Daughter of the Sound
by Dark Akuma Hunter
Summary: Orochimaru sends his daughter on a mission to the Leaf Village. What will happen when she runs into team Kakashi? Warning, characters are rather OOC in parts.
1. Orochimaru's new plan

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: This is pretty random. I got the idea from a quiz I did. Please don't shoot me but Orochimaru is rather OOC in this chapter. He should hopefully be back to normal next time he shows up though.**

**Um so I sort of re-arranged the landscape and land positions of the different nations accidentally so... You'll just have to deal with that. The Land of Rice Paddies (Land of Sound), Land of Fire and the Land of Water are all now connected by land and closer to each other than they probably should be. Oh well...**

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><p>A new-born baby was kidnapped in the middle of the night while her mother was sleeping. When the sun rose over the Hidden Mist village the mother wept, for she knew perfectly well what had happened to her child. The father had claimed his child. No-one else in the village knew who the father was, and so they were surprised when the woman begged the village leader not to send a search party. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Eventually the other villagers forgot about the strange incident, but there was one who would never forget.<p>

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><p>10 years later<p>

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><p>"Lord Orochimaru, I have received new reports from the Hidden Leaf and Mist villages." The bespectacled young man stood in front of a throne-like chair, reporting his findings. "An unknown assailant attacked the Hidden Mist village two weeks ago. Half of the population was wiped out. They are no longer a threat to us in any way." He paused, watching the pale, snake-like man before him.<p>

"Very well. What about the Leaf Kabuto?" The seated man – Orochimaru – asked.

"It has been reported in the village hidden in the Leaves that Tsunade has been appointed the new hokage." Orochimaru smirked, leaning back in his chair.

"Ah Tsunade. She won't last long." He glanced down at the child standing beside his seat. "Yumi." He called, drawing her attention to him. "How would you like to go on your first covert mission?" she smiled briefly, but quickly reverted to her previous emotionless expression.

"I will do as you order father." Orochimaru smiled; an almost loving look in his eyes, however fatherly affection was one thing he never showed.

"Good answer Yumi. I want you and Kabuto to travel to the Hidden Leaf village. Once there you will join the academy to gain information without raising suspicion. Kabuto, you will merely watch over her and act as a guide to the Leaf. This will be a solo mission, and it will be long-term." He paused, making sure that Yumi was keeping up. "On the way there you should stop by the Hidden Mist village to survey its current situation. I want a complete first-hand account of what state the village is in. Do you understand?" Yumi nodded her head seriously, while Kabuto stood straight-backed and still.

"I understand, Lord Orochimaru."

"In that case you are both dismissed. Yumi, I suggest that you go and get ready." She smiled and ran off into the twisted, winding corridors towards her room.

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><p>Yumi was ecstatic. This was going to be the first time she had been outside other than when they switched between hideouts. But even then she had never really seen anything. She packed her kunai knives and shuriken into a small pouch, along with some smoke bombs, wire, paper bombs and a miniature medical kit. The medical kit would be unnecessary since Kabuto was coming with her, but she would need to stay away from him if she wanted to blend in.<p>

"Stupid Kabuto." She muttered to herself. "He just had to go and blow his cover last time he was in the Leaf." Drifting across the room Yumi grabbed a blank scroll and a change of clothes and stuffed them into a small bag. She was so excited that she could barely sleep so she sat on her bed, anxiously awaiting the coming of morning.

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><p>Time Skip<p>

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><p>Yumi raced through the corridors, nervous about going outside. She slowed down as she neared the entrance. Her blue eyes widened in surprise as she noticed her father standing near the door, talking with Kabuto. She paused, not wanting to interrupt them in case it was something important. Kabuto noticed her and he stopped talking. Orochimaru turned to face her.<p>

"Good, you're here. That saves me sending Kabuto to go find you." Yumi nodded, face blank. He stepped to the side, unblocking the entrance. She looked to Kabuto and he nodded encouragingly. Yumi started walking towards the stairs, looking back to her father who had already turned his back and left. That sort of behaviour was normal though, and she continued climbing the stairs. Kabuto opened the door for her and she stepped out into the bright morning sun. Raising a hand she shielded her eyes against the glare.

"Which way is it to the Mist village?" she wondered aloud. He turned east and headed off through the grass, Yumi running to catch up. "Have you ever been to the Hidden Mist village before?" she asked him, curious about the man's past.

"No, not personally. I guess this will be a first for both of us." He said, smiling. They marched on in silence for a while, Yumi completely enthralled by the variety of land they had passed through, while Kabuto had no interest in striking up a conversation with the ten year old, preferring the quiet. They had been travelling for nearly three hours when they first encountered people. An old man and a young boy, not much older than Yumi passed by, heading in the opposite direction. The old man gave them a judgemental look and it was then that Yumi realised how much her clothes stood out. She was easily identifiable and for her to enter the Leaf in her current outfit would be suicide.

"Kabuto, how far away is the Hidden Mist village?" He stopped and turned, taking in their surroundings.

'It should be about a day's walk from where we are now." Yumi looked around, wondering how he could tell where they were and how much further they had to go.

"Let's speed up." She requested. "I want to get on to the main mission sooner rather than later." Kabuto glanced over at her, saw the determination in her eyes, and quickly agreed. They picked up their pace, not passing another person for the rest of the day. When night began to fall Kabuto started looking for a good place to rest, despite Yumi's insistence that she could keep going. Once they had found a clearing and set up camp Yumi fell asleep almost instantly. Kabuto chuckled to himself.

"No matter how persistent she may be, the reality is that she is still only ten years old. She just doesn't have the stamina she thinks she does." He leaned against a tree, watching as the stars came out one by one. Eventually he too fell asleep, oblivious to his surroundings.

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><p>Time Skip<p>

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><p>They packed up camp and started out at the same pace as yesterday before the sun had even risen. Jumping from tree to tree they stayed out of sight until they reached the edge of the forest. Silently they waited in the canopy of a tree until a small group of people had passed by underneath them. Yumi jumped down from the tree and ran to the nearby stream to refill her canteen. Kabuto walked past her to the edge of the cliff. It overlooked a village.<p>

"We're almost there." He called back to her.

"Really? Great!" She got to her feet and ran over to him. "Is that it?" she asked, slightly disappointed. "It doesn't look very damaged." She pouted. Kabuto laughed and headed off down the walkway that led to the village. They descended in relative silence, broken every now and again by Yumi complaining about the poor job the supposed assailant did. She shut up when they reached the entrance to the village. "That's more like it!" she smiled at the more obvious signs of damage they could see from their current position. The streets were abandoned near the main gate, Yumi and Kabuto not seeing anyone at all until they reached the centre of the village. There were some older women, some elderly people and then a group of young abandoned children.

"There really doesn't seem to be any capable fighters left here." Kabuto pointed out.

"Yeah, this is quite advantageous for us." Yumi agreed. They walked for a while longer and stopped outside a seemingly abandoned building. "Shall I report in then?" She grabbed a scroll from the pocket of her shorts and spread it out on the ground. Bringing her hand up to her mouth she bit her thumb, drawing blood. "Summoning jutsu!" she yelled as she placed her hand in the centre of the scroll. There was a cloud of smoke and when it disappeared there was a small snake on the ground in front of her.

"Hey Yumi, long time no see." The snake seemed happy to be there.

"Good to see you too. Could you take a message to fath – I mean Orochimaru for me?"

"Sure thing. What's the message?"

"Tell him that the situation in the Mist village is as we suspected. There are no able ninjas left to protect them, and they will no longer be a threat in any way to us." The snake recited the message, making sure it had it right, then slithered off the way they had come that morning. A woman came out of the building they thought had been abandoned.

"What do you people want? We have nothing left to give you." The woman's light blue eyes widened in shock as she took in their outfits. "Yumi, is that you?" she called. Kabuto turned to Yumi.

"Do you know her from somewhere?" Yumi turned her cold eyes, an exact match to the mysterious newcomers, on her.

"Get lost old hag. I don't have time for you." She rolled her scroll up and shoved it back in her pocket, readjusting her purple rope belt as she did. Turning she marched off in a random direction. Kabuto was about to follow her when the woman cried out again.

"Yumi please wait! Can't we just talk?" He stared at the woman, utterly confused.

"Lady just who are you?" he demanded. "Yumi said she doesn't know you, so why are you being so persistent?"

"That child is my daughter!" she yelled at him, frustrated. There was shock evident in his eyes, considering she might actually be telling the truth.

"You don't have any proof though." He protested.

"Seeing her is the only proof I need. She wears a sound village headband, and that outfit is so much like her his that it makes me sick." Kabuto's mind went blank.

"His?"

"Yes. That filth Orochimaru!" Kabuto sat down, hard. It never occurred to him that Orochimaru might actually be Yumi's father. He had always assumed that she called him that because she had spent all her life with him.

"Kabuto what are you doing sitting in the middle of the street like that?" Yumi questioned him, coming back into view. She had ransacked a house or store and changed into some non-descript Mist style clothing, her original outfit and headband in one hand and her belt hung over one of her arms. He got to his feet as she glared at the woman. "Why is she still here?"

"Yumi, please, just hear me out." She begged.

"Why should I? I told you before, just get lost." Yumi went to walk away but looked at the clothes in her hand. She threw her sound village clothes – minus the belt and headband - at the woman. "Here, make an apron or something. It saves me having to carry it." Kabuto glanced back at the woman one last time before following Yumi out of the village.

"We should collect some food while we're in a town." He suggested. Yumi sighed in defeat.

"Yeah, I guess we should." They spent half an hour searching through all the houses, collecting any food they found while ignoring the hating stares of the now orphaned village children. "That ought to be enough now." Yumi pointed out, stuffing the last bit into her bag. He nodded in agreement and they set out, climbing the pathway to get out of the village once more. When they got to the top Yumi took a quick drink of water. She stared at her belt for a moment then wrapped it back around her waist. She wasn't going to carry it all the way to the Leaf.

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><p><strong>AN: Actually nearly everyone will probably be run down with varying degrees of OOCness... Naruto personalities aren't my strong point, I don't pick up on them well. Anyway, the story is set shortly after the 3rd hokages death but before Sasuke leaves the village. Other than that the events will be invented from my own mind.**

**Soo... it turns out those idiots from the Mist were actually pretty weak, compared to whoever attacked them anyway.**


	2. Infiltration

They had been travelling almost non-stop for nearly four days.

"Why aren't we there yet?" Yumi whined impatiently as they stopped for lunch. Kabuto finished eating an apple before he responded.

"The Leaf village is a good week's journey from the Hidden Mist. You can only travel so fast, so it would be impossible for us to already be there." She pouted and took a bite out of her own apple.

"So that means it will take three more days to get there? I guess I shouldn't be too impatient. Maybe I should start trying to think of a cover story." Kabuto laughed as he stood up.

"If we run we can get there in two days. And I would have thought your cover story was quite obvious."

"Really, how?" she was stumped.

"You're wearing Mist village clothes. Your cover should be that of a refugee from the partially destroyed Mist village."

"Oh, I get it now." She smiled, lightly hitting herself on the head. "That was pretty obvious wasn't it?" She climbed to her feet. "Alright then, let's get going." She ran off ahead at a much faster pace than before. He shook his head, chasing after her.

"You can't keep this up forever." He pointed out after an hour as she started to falter.

"It's not my fault! You're not tired at all." Kabuto sighed; she really was a stubborn kid.

"I'm older than you, remember?" They slowed their pace. When it started to get dark they called it a day. Her little burst of speed had taken more out of Yumi than she cared to admit and, although she protested the early stop, it was only a half-hearted attempt.

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><p>After two more days of travel they had made it to within an hour's journey to the Hidden Leaf village. Night had already fallen by that time though, so Kabuto neglected to mention the fact since Yumi would want to keep going. They only slept for a short period of time that night, Kabuto insisting they get up before dawn.<p>

"We're almost there. I can't come with you for much longer, you realise that right?" she nodded, albeit unhappily. With that settled they continued forward, walking and a normal pace so they could hear if someone was approaching them. They were halfway to the Leaf when they sensed people coming towards them. Kabuto glanced back.

"There's four of them. Quick, give me your belt, I have to go now." She handed him her belt, but insisted on keeping her sound headband. Shoving it in the bottom of her bag she watched Kabuto disappear into the forest. She was just about to start walking again when they caught up with her. At first it seemed like they would just pass by and ignore her, but then the silver-haired man stopped and turned to her.

"I haven't seen you in the village before, are you visiting?" he asked as the two young boys he was with began to argue. Yumi nodded, putting on a shy act. "Where are you from? We're just heading back now, do you want to come with us?"

"I came from the village hidden in the Mist." She offered timidly. The man's eye widened in surprise.

"Really? That's a long way to travel by yourself." His expression turned serious. "I heard about what happened there. Is that why you came?" The two boys shut up.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you talking about?" the young pink haired girl asked.

"Nothing, nothing." He hedged. "Well, let's go together then, since we're all heading to the same place." He started walking and everyone else, Yumi included, followed behind him. The pink haired girl came over to walk with Yumi.

"Hi. My name is Sakura Haruno. That idiot over there -" she pointed to the blonde guy in the orange clothes, "- is Naruto Uzumaki." She then pointed at the black haired boy in the blue clothes. "The other one is Sasuke Uchiha." Yumi froze on the inside. She hadn't even put one foot in the Leaf village but she had already stumbled across the infamous Uchiha boy that her father wanted so badly. "What's your name?" Sakura asked her.

"I'm Yumi." Sakura looked at her expectantly. Yumi wracked her brain for a name to use as a last name, since she'd never needed one before and had never known her own. "Yumi Fujikawa." They passed through the main gate into the Leaf village and headed towards a tall green building near a cliff which had people's faces carved onto it. _Meeting them sure made it easier to get into the village without being questioned too much._ Yumi thought to herself.

"Alright then. Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, you are all dismissed now." Kakashi ordered when they reached the bottom of the stairs. "Yumi, please come with me." Sakura looked like she was going to protest, but gave up before she even started.

"Come and find me when you're finished Yumi. I'll show you around the village." She smiled and ran off. Kakashi headed up the stairs and Yumi followed behind him, thinking up a good story to tell Tsunade when they questioned her.

"Here we are." He said, stopping in front of a set of double doors. He knocked on the door and waited patiently.

"Come in." called a bored female voice. He pushed the door open, revealing a blonde woman sitting behind a desk and a black haired woman standing at her side. "Ah Kakashi, how did the mission go?" she leaned forward in her chair, arms resting on the desk.

"Oh, that. The mission was successful." He ushered Yumi into the room to stand beside him.

"Who's that?" Tsunade asked, an expression on borderline interest on her face.

"This is…"

"Yumi." She offered, remembering that only Sakura had actually asked her name.

"Yeah, Yumi." Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "She came here from the village hidden in the Mist. Since we haven't had time to send any shinobi out to investigate I thought she might be able to give us some details."

"I see. Go ahead then Yumi." Tsunade sounded bored again, it was obvious that she didn't really care.

"I didn't actually see what happened, since I was hiding with my mother." She improvised. "But whoever attacked was strong enough to easily overpower our strongest shinobi. Everyone who tried to fight was killed, yet they spared those who didn't try to fight them. The only people left are elders, children and a few civilians." The black haired woman nearly dropped her pig.

"Lady Tsunade, if what this child says is true then we have a serious problem on our hands!" Tsunade glared at her.

"Calm down Shizune. You shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. This does seem like something we need to investigate though." Yumi cringed, that wasn't what she was planning on happening. She would have to send another message to Orochimaru. "Look at that Shizune!" Tsunade had noticed Yumi's uncomfortable expression. "You're scaring the poor child. You can go now Yumi." Her voice was softer when she gave Yumi permission to leave. She nodded and walked slowly out of the room. Once she was out of sight she sprinted down the stairs and ran around, looking for a secluded area to summon her serpent messenger. She found what she was looking for behind the hokage's building in a slightly forested area. Yumi sat down cross-legged on the ground and pulled out her scroll. She wasn't actually planning on summoning Kara; she only needed to talk to her. She closed her eyes and concentrated on finding the snake she needed.

"Kara, are you there?" she asked, reaching out with her mind.

"Hey Yumi, what's happening? Two summoning's in one week, is something wrong?" Kara's voice echoed in Yumi's head.

"Not exactly. Are you still near the hideout? I need you to take another message to my father." Kara made a hissing noise.

"I really don't like that man Yumi. Can't you use someone else? Oh never mind, I'm already here. What's the message?"

"I'm sorry, I forgot that you don't like being around him." She bit her lip, distressed that she would forget such an important fact about her favourite snake. "Tell him that the situation has changed. The Leaf is likely to send out shinobi to investigate the Mist village, so he should stay away from it until further notice as while they are there the Mist is once again a huge threat." Kara sighed.

"Do you mind if I abbreviate that?" the snake wondered.

"Sure, as long as you get the main point across." She heard footsteps coming slowly towards her. "Sorry Kara, someone's coming so I have to go." Yumi shoved the scroll back into her pocket and stood up slowly, pretending she hadn't noticed the person standing behind her.

"What are you doing?" asked a disinterested male voice.

"That's none of your business." She snapped as she turned around, cringing when she realised she had let her temper get the better of her. Her cover of a shy timid person had just blown out the window. The boy smirked.

"I guess you're not such a wimp after all." She glared at Sasuke, hands clenched by her sides.

"Who are you to talk? You don't seem so tough. You've obviously got a bad attitude though. I don't know why Sakura likes you so much." She mentally kicked herself. Sakura hadn't said anything of the sort; she just assumed that was the deal with the way she looked at him.

"Don't look at me, I can't tell you why." He shrugged. "Anyway, I was going to do some training here, but you're in the way, so I'll go somewhere else."

"Don't bother." She called after him as he went to leave. "I was going to leave anyway. Sakura said she was going to show me around. There's no point in making myself hard to find." Yumi pushed past him and walked out to the main street.

"Yumi, that's where you were!" She spun around and found Sakura running over to her. "I asked Kakashi-sensei but he wasn't very helpful." The two girls wandered off into the town together.

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><p>- Time Skip -<p>

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><p>After about an hour Sakura had shown Yumi almost every place in the Leaf.<p>

"This shop here" she pointed to a small shop "is Ichiraku Ramen. They have really good food, so you really should check it out some time." Just as they were walking past a familiar blonde boy stepped out of the store.

"Oh hey Sakura! What brings you here? Were you looking for me?" Naruto had a goofy grin on his face.

"How many bowls of ramen did you eat this time Naruto?" She asked, suddenly irritated. He screwed up his face, thinking, and Sakura took the chance to run, dragging Yumi along with her. "He really gets on my nerves sometimes." Sakura was muttering to herself.

"Yumi, can you hear me?" Yumi stopped dead in the middle of the street. Sakura kept walking, lost in her own world.

"What is it Kara?" She whispered as quietly as she could, concentrating on connecting with the snakes mind.

"Oh good, you can hear me." She moved to sit down; people were giving here strange looks since she was standing in the middle of the road. "Well I did what you asked me to do, but I don't think he exactly followed your thoughts. I didn't stick around for too long after I delivered it, but it seemed to me like he was planning to go visit the Mist himself."

"Damnit! He's such an idiot!" She muttered louder than necessary just as Naruto walked past her.

"I agree, although I wouldn't dare say it." Naruto glared at her and she quickly cut off her conversation with Kara. Yumi jumped up and walked over to him.

"I wasn't talking about you back there."

"I never said you were."

"Then why do you seem so damn mad at me? I didn't do anything wrong!" Yumi frowned angrily. Naruto laughed.

"You sure are weird, you know that?" She glared at him. "Calm down. Did you lose Sakura? I'll help you find her okay?" With that simple statement she found herself wandering around the town once more, this time with a different guide.

"It'll take forever to find her like this." She complained. He glanced over at her.

"You have a good point." He jumped up onto the roof of a building and made a hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke and all of a sudden there were five Narutos. Yumi gasped in surprise. "We'll find her easily like this." He sent one of his shadow clones of in each direction and sat down to wait. Yumi jumped up beside him.

"That sure is an odd jutsu." She pointed out, leaning back against the roof tiles. Ten minutes later they had found and re-joined Sakura. She seemed annoyed that Naruto had tagged along but she hid it well. The walked around aimlessly for the rest of the day, telling Yumi about the village.

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><p><strong>AN: This chapter is basically just her introduction to the Leaf. Nothing very interesting happening there. Why does Orochimaru insist on going to the Mist? Don't ask me, I don't know :P I don't know when the next chapter will be up, today was a snow day so it meant I had more time than usual to work on it.**


	3. Relationships

Orochimaru marched confidently into the village hidden in the Mist, flanked by two of the sound ninja four, Tayuya and Kidomaru.

"Lord Orochimaru, what do you want us to do?"

"Be patient Tayuya," Orochimaru planted his feet firmly on the ground. "Let us wait for our welcoming party."

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><p>-Time Skip-<p>

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><p>One month has passed since Yumi arrived in the Hidden Leaf village. At first she was forced to stay with Sakura, but eventually Kakashi found somewhere for her to live by herself. After enrolling in the academy she had been attending classes for three weeks. Yumi had been having trouble hiding the extent of her power and skills, and even with severely restricted use of her powers her classmates had still labelled her as a prodigy. The only information she had managed to gain from Iruka-sensei was that the graduation exam was going to be held two months from now.<p>

"And by the looks of things I'll be the only one graduating this year." She added snidely as she talked to Kara in her room. Her eyes clouded over as she let out her annoyance. "I still haven't found anything useful though." Kara slithered onto Yumi's bed so that she was at eye level with the girl who was sitting on the floor.

"Do you want me to take a report to your father?" Yumi stared at the snake, surprised.

"No, I wouldn't make you do that. Besides, there's no point reporting in just to tell him we have nothing to report. What a waste of time." She hugged her knees to her chest, frustrated with her lack of progress.

"Why don't you try searching from a different angle?" Kara suggested.

"That's easier said than done. For starters I don't even know what I'm looking for here. It makes the mission that much more confusing and difficult." She punched the floor in anger, making the picture frame fall off the wall. "Whoops." She muttered.

"We have another mission already. What a drag." The voice drifted through her open window from the street.

"It's not that bad Shikamaru. Asuma-sensei's going to buy us lunch if it goes successfully!" Yumi got up and walked out to stand on her balcony so she could identify the speakers.

"That may be a good incentive for you Choji, but it's still a drag. We barely got two days to rest."

"At least you guys get to go on missions." She called, butting in to their conversation. "Some of us are still at the academy." The two boys glanced up, trying to find the person who had spoken. Yumi grinned childishly.

"What are you doing Yumi?" Kara called out, making Yumi cringe. She motioned for the snake to be quiet. Reaching back into the room she grabbed the bag of chips she had been eating before she summoned Kara for a chat. She leaned over the railing as she bit into a chip. The skinny black haired boys face paled as the other stared hungrily up at Yumi or, more specifically, the chips in her hand.

"Barbeque chips…" he muttered. She shrugged and threw the packet down to him.

"You really shouldn't be so quick to give Choji food." The black haired boy cautioned.

"Don't say that!" Choji complained. "Don't listen to Shikamaru!" He called up to Yumi on the balcony. She smirked and held her hands up in submission.

"Well I can't do both things now can I? You guys are just going to have to compromise. Anyway, good luck on your mission." She moved to go back inside but Choji called out again.

"What's your name?" Looking back over her shoulder she paused.

"Yumi Fujikawa."

"Well, thanks for the chips Yumi. Barbeque is my favourite."

"It's alright. I wasn't really going to eat them anyway. I have to go to class now, see you guys around." She closed the door and grabbed what she was going to need for class, noticing that Kara had disappeared. Smiling absently she locked the door to her apartment and headed for the academy.

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><p>-At the Academy-<p>

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><p>"Okay class, today we'll be working on making clones." Iruka-sensei made some hand signs and a copy of himself appeared beside him in a puff of smoke. Yumi frowned, thinking. <em>Those hand signs are different to the ones that Naruto did. If we're only learning a regular cloning jutsu here then where did he learn to create shadow clones? Surely it would be too advanced for that knucklehead.<em> Someone elbowed her in the gut.

"Yumi, are you paying attention?" Iruka asked her. "Why don't you come down here and demonstrate for the rest of the class what I just did." She rolled her eyes and trudged down the stairs to the front of the class. Closing her eyes she made the hand signs slowly, as though she was trying to remember how to do them. There was a small puff of smoke. When it cleared there was two completely identical Yumi's standing in front of the board. Her classmates started whispering to each other. Iruka's eyes were wide in shock; he hadn't expected her to able to do it.

"Can I go back to my seat now sensei?" She asked, bored of the attention. He nodded so she dispelled the jutsu, her clone disappearing in another puff of smoke.

"Okay, now it's time for the rest of you to have a go at making clones. After that you can all go outside for some physical training. Yumi rested her head on her arms as the others began trying to create their own clones. No-one had managed to do it on their first try, but then again neither had she. Yumi had been doing that particular jutsu for years and had perfected it a long time ago. After half an hour of practise nearly everyone had exhausted their supplies of chakra so Iruka-sensei said they could have a short break before they went outside for target practise. One of the boys came over to Yumi.

"How come you can do it so easily?" he asked, irritated by his own failed attempts. "I watched and I did everything like you and Iruka-sensei, but it's just not working!" She rubbed her temples, the beginning of a headache setting in.

"Go away Konohamaru." She lay her head down on the desk.

"Please teach me!" he begged, clasping his hands together and bowing his head. She groaned in frustration.

"Okay, fine! I'll teach you. But not now, so leave me alone." He jumped up triumphantly and ran off, probably to brag about getting lessons with the prodigy. Yumi buried her head in her arms before jumping up suddenly, marching out the door mere seconds before Iruka-sensei said the break was over.

"Everyone you know the drill. Make a group and pick a target. Konohamaru dragged Yumi off to join his group, and they picked a tree at the edge of the area away from the other groups.

"Okay Yumi, you can go first." he offered. She took up a stance and pulled several kunai knives from her leg pouch. She focused all of her concentration on throwing badly, but even with all that effort she still hit on the edge of the target, embedding her first kunai deep in the board. Cringing she went to yank it out, examining the massive indent she had made in the tree.

"Too much power." She scolded herself quietly.

"Nice try. Maybe you're just better at jutsu." He was trying to be encouraging, although the disbelief was clear in his face. _It's a good thing he hasn't noticed the hole._ She reassured herself that she hadn't mucked up too badly. Konohamaru threw next, and his hit surprisingly close to the centre of the target.

"Wow Konohamaru, that was pretty good." Yumi was honestly shocked at the boy's apparent talent.

"I've been practicing." He stated proudly. She rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, maybe I should practise more too." Someone snickered from in the trees and Yumi spun, sending her kunai flying into the branches before she even realised what she was doing. There was a clash of metal and her kunai felt to the ground.

"See, you're good after all." A familiar voice called out as he jumped down from the tree. She frowned; annoyed that he had made her lose her composure twice now.

"No-one asked for your opinion Sasuke." She complained bluntly. The black-haired boy laughed mockingly at her.

"If you hide it they'll just hate you more. I would know." Yumi glared at him as she walked warily over to collect her kunai from the dirt.

"Seriously, I didn't ask for your opinion or your help." She whispered threateningly when she leaned past him. He was shocked for all of half a second before his obnoxious smirk reappeared on his face.

"Sasuke, you know better than to interrupt practice sessions." Iruka-sensei warned. Sasuke put on an innocent expression.

"I was just helping Yumi with her aim. She's really quite good if you catch her off-guard." He danced back as Yumi slashed out at him, scowling. "See?"

"Why don't you leave me alone and go beat up Naruto or something?" She asked him, throwing the knife at the tree behind his head. He dodged it easily, retreating to the edge of the training field.

"Don't tease her Sasuke. Go home." Iruka sighed. Sasuke turned around and left, heading for some unknown destination. Iruka yanked Yumi's kunai out of the tree, surprised at how deeply it was embedded in the trunk. "You really have some impressive upper arm strength Yumi." He commented, turning back to her. She snatched her kunai out of Iruka's hand and stormed out of the training ground.

"Where are you going?" Konohamaru called after her. "You still have to help me practise!" Ignoring him she jumped the fence and started wandering aimlessly around the village.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile…<p>

* * *

><p>Kabuto leaned heavily against a tree trunk, taking a moment to catch his breath. The border patrol had nearly spotted him earlier; he had only just managed to get away before they arrived. He knew he had to keep moving; he needed to get further away from the village, where the border patrol had no need to search.<p>

"If only I didn't have to watch over Yumi on her stupid information collection mission." He muttered angrily, readjusting his headband. He was of half a mind to just head back to the hideout, but Orochimaru would have his head if he abandoned his mission before it was completed. Sensing a presence heading nearer he groaned and jumped off, veering deeper into the forest and away from the village of the Hidden Leaf.

* * *

><p>In the Leaf….<p>

* * *

><p>Yumi kicked a loose pebble in frustration as she skulked around the back streets of the village.<p>

"Stupid Sasuke, blowing my cover like that. If I'm not careful he'll ruin everything. I've worked really hard to build my current mask and he goes and breaks it with such ease. Father's barely even laid eyes on him, I highly doubt he knows anything about his powers of perception." She muttered to herself under her breath. Finding herself alone she bit her thumb and summoned Kara once more.

"Is class over already? That's surprising." She slithered along next to Yumi, easily keeping pace. Yumi leapt up into a tree and Kara followed her up into the branches.

"No, it's still in session. I ditched early after a run-in with a certain irritating person. Hey Kara, do you think it's possible that my father actually sent me to keep an eye on Sasuke?" Kara's slit eyes watched her, deep in thought.

"Well it's a despicable thing to lie about mission details to your own daughter, but then again Orochimaru is a despicable person. No offense." She hedged awkwardly. Yumi shook her head absently.

"None taken. I know he's not a very well-liked or respected man. I just don't understand what's going through his head. Not to mention the fact that I haven't seen Kabuto since I got here." She stared through the leaved, watching the street below while she distractedly carved the sound village symbol into the tree trunk.

"You probably shouldn't do that." Kara pointed out. Yumi blinked and looked at the knife in her hand.

"Oh." She shoved it back into her weapons pouch and swung down from the branch, landing steadily on her feet. "Never mind Kara. You can go back if you want to." Kara followed her until she got back to the main street before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Unbeknownst to Yumi someone was watching her curiously, having seen her conversing with the snake. His decorative animal mask glinted in the sun as he moved to follow the strange girl.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah this chapter is mostly about how Yumi interacts with different characters around Konoha. I was kinda stuck for actual plot ideas, so I decided to do this first. Sooo... If anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them. I have a long term plot goal, but it's the build up to that which is getting the better of me right now.**


	4. Academy life and a few dreadful mistakes

The shadow of a tall apartment building fell over his tiger mask as he peered around the corner. The girl he was following had turned onto a main street meaning he was going to have to find a different route if he didn't want to raise suspicion.

* * *

><p>Yumi glanced behind her as she wandered along the street towards her apartment. It had seemed as though someone had been following her, although they didn't appear to be there anymore.<p>

"Crap." She swore under her breath. "If I get found out then father will be mad. I can't fail my first mission. Not in the same place as Kabuto. It sure would be awful luck now that I think about it." She took a few random corners before finally approaching her building, just to be sure about whether her watcher had disappeared or not. She couldn't sense his presence anymore though, so she assumed she was safe.

* * *

><p>The tiger watched as the girl tried to shake him off. He wasn't foolish enough to fall for her tricks. They wouldn't fool anyone, unless they just couldn't be bothered with following her, but he wasn't a senior member of the Anbu for nothing. She looked around one last time before entering the building he had already guessed was where she lived. The tiger's partner hadn't had enough time to check through her belongings since she left the academy training grounds unexpectedly early. He watched as another man wearing a bear mask jumped across the street towards him.<p>

"How did it go?" The tiger asked quietly. The bear shook his head.

"I only saw what was laid out in her room, and there was nothing in the least bit suspicious."

"I saw her talking to a snake." The tiger told his comrade. "I lost sight of her for a moment since I wasn't expecting her to have a temper tantrum and storm off."

"A snake? I didn't even think there were any snakes in the village."

"There aren't. That's what makes it suspicious. What do you think it means?" The bear rubbed his arm.

"I don't know. We should report to Lady Tsunade right away." The two masked men disappeared into the night.

* * *

><p>Yumi stood motionless in the doorway to her room. Someone had been there since she left that morning. They had tried incredibly hard to be sneaky, but she could tell; she could still sense the presence of someone else in her room. They must have left just before she got back. She frowned and stepped inside, taking inventory. Luckily they hadn't touched her bag, which contained her sound headband. Sighing heavily she grabbed a packet of chips and a drink and walked outside, sitting down on the balcony.<p>

"That's just my luck really." She pulled open the bag of chips, staring at the blue sky.

* * *

><p>"What have you got for me?" Tsunade addressed her empty office. The tiger and the bear appeared in front of her desk.<p>

"The subject in question has been seen conversing with a snake." The tiger stated. Tsunade bit her thumb nail angrily.

"Did you find out anything else?" The bear shook his head.

"We checked her room but she came home unexpectedly soon and interrupted the search. I didn't find anything suspicious but if she had something to hide she wouldn't be stupid enough to leave it lying around in the open." Silence followed the bear's report.

"Keep tabs on her. The next time you get the chance I want a thorough search of all her belongings." She ordered.

"Understood." The tiger and bear disappeared, leaving Tsunade alone in her office once more.

* * *

><p>Yumi tensed, crushing her now empty chip packet.<p>

"They're back." She whispered, standing up. She closed the sliding door and the curtains before kneeling down next to her bag. Digging around in it she grabbed her Sound village headband and shoved it in her pocket. Yumi backed up against the wall and did the hand signs she had seen Naruto making. "Shadow clone jutsu." She stumbled slightly and sat down hard as she felt a large chunk of her chakra leave her body. "He had five shadow clones and I can barely make one. How does he do it?" she complained quietly. After sending her shadow clone outside she performed a transformation jutsu and merged into the wall behind her. Using her mind's eye she kept watch on her clone, making sure it didn't do anything stupid. Once it was walking down the next street over she leant back and waited.

* * *

><p>The curtain rustled and two masked men entered the room.<p>

"Shouldn't you be keeping watch?" The man wearing a bear mask asked his tiger masked companion.

"I've got a shadow clone watching the street." Yumi thought the tiger's voice seemed familiar, although she couldn't place it. The bear started rummaging around in Yumi's bag, making her scowl. When they both had their backs turned she stood up silently and threw a kunai at the tiger, knocking his mask off and revealing a familiar face.

"It's not polite to go through a girls bag Kakashi-sensei." She dispelled the transformation jutsu as the two men spun to face her.

"Oh, um, good afternoon Yumi." Kakashi improvised as his friend with the bear mask escaped out the window. "Great." He muttered, annoyed. "Yamato leaves me when things get complicated." Yumi glared at him, hands on her hips. Her clone disappeared on the main street in a cloud of smoke.

"Don't you think that the best way to find information is by going to the source? Sneaking around like that won't get you anywhere." He knelt down and picked up his tiger mask, putting it back on.

"You're very adept at hiding your presence. You might just have what it takes to join the Anbu one of these days." He jumped out the window after attempting to apologise for breaking in.

"You're an idiot sensei, if you really thought I was stupid enough to leave anything incriminating lying around." It was a lie of course, because if she hadn't come home early her cover would have been blown. Yumi let out a sigh of relief as she sat down on her bed.

"I've been relying too much on luck. From now on I have to pay more attention to my surroundings." She lay on her back, headband clutched firmly in her hand and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling.

* * *

><p>The next day…<p>

* * *

><p>"I have an announcement to make class." Iruka called as he walked into the room. "There was a meeting yesterday. One thing led to another and due to some unavoidable issues it has been decided that the graduation exam will be held next week." Cries of protest filled the classroom.<p>

"Iruka-sensei." Yumi raised her hand. "Don't you think that changing it all of a sudden is a bit unfair?" He smiled.

"I'm sure you'll do fine Yumi, there's no need to worry." She rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't talking about me." Iruka looked around the room, noting the nervous and worried expressions on everyone's faces. "Last week you said that we would be doing the cloning jutsu for the exam, but you only taught us that yesterday. No-one has been able to do it yet, and you expect them all to perfect it in the next week?" He rubbed his head, a guilty expression on his own face.

"I see you're point. Don't worry about it you guys. How about we change the exam to the transformation jutsu?" The class perked up a bit. "That doesn't mean you can lay off practising your clones though, it's an important technique to know."

"No sweat sensei." Konohamaru called, standing up and slapping his hands on the desk. "I'll have that jutsu perfected in no time!" He grinned at Yumi, begging with his eyes, telling her that she better not let him down.

"That's the spirit Konohamaru. You guys should all take a leaf out of his book." Iruka grabbed a piece of chalk and wrote a reminder about the graduation exam on the board before turning back to face the class. "You guys know the drill. Today you have free practise so don't waste it." Yumi was promptly dragged outside to assist Konohamaru in how to implement the cloning jutsu. She was distracted though, thinking about the two men who had been in her room, so when she was demonstrating the hand signs for the cloning jutsu she accidentally performed the shadow clone jutsu instead.

"Are you sure that's right? I'm pretty sure it was different last time." She looked up, confused.

"Really? Oh, sor-" she collapsed to the ground as two clones appeared beside her. Konohamaru knelt down next to her.

"Yumi, are you okay?" Iruka came rushing over to see what the commotion was about. Her clones were holding her up in a sitting position both looking extremely worried.

"Sensei, she's completely exhausted her chakra supply. You should take her to a hospital." The first clone begged him. Yumi groaned, drawing lines in the dirt with her fingers as she tried to get up.

"I don't need the hospital." She protested before passing out entirely. Her clones vanished.

* * *

><p>"What's the story Iruka?" Tsunade had personally come to examine Yumi, since she was still on her list of suspicious people.<p>

"She was teaching Konohamaru how to make clones. She had made two when she collapsed. According to one of the clones she had expended all her chakra, but that wouldn't be possible by only making clones." Tsunade bit her thumb nail, a sure-fire sign that she was mad.

"No, it wouldn't."

"Konohamaru did mention that he thought she was doing different hand signs." She looked up at this addition

"It can't have been…" Iruka nodded in agreement.

"Shadow clones. That's what I was thinking. The question remains though, how did she learn that jutsu?" Tsunade frowned and glanced over at the sleeping pre-teen girl. "I can see the cogs whirring in your mind. Just what exactly do you plan to do when she wakes up?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Do you doubt me Iruka?" He tensed and she grinned deviously. "I'm only going to ask her a few questions. You should really be getting back to the academy, don't you think? You're supposed to be teaching if I'm not mistaken." His shoulders slouched and he turned towards the door.

"I understand Lady Hokage; I'll leave you to your interrogation."

* * *

><p>The first thing Yumi set her deep blue eyes on when she regained consciousness was Lady Tsunade.<p>

"Damn." She muttered, too weak to do anything about her predicament.

"It's good to see you're finally awake." Tsunade commented, smirking.

"What do you want?" Yumi grumbled wearily. "Didn't your watchdogs give you enough information for you to be satisfied?" Tsunade leaned back, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me; I'm really not in the mood. You sent Kakashi-sensei and some other guy to my apartment, assumedly because you don't trust me."

"How do you even know that?" Tsunade's eyebrows knitted together as she tried to figure it out.

"Obviously I caught them in my room. They're very easily fooled, if I do say so myself." Yumi was rewarded with a furious glare. Tsunade stood up, leaning over so that she was right in front of Yumi's face.

"Look here girly; I really don't like you, and one of these days I will find a solid reason for my distrust. You just wait." Yumi laughed.

"Good luck then, I'll be waiting." Tsunade threw one more glare at the bedridden girl before storming out of the room. Yumi paled and checked the pocket of her shorts. She sighed in relief. "Good, it's still there." She stretched out and ate a food pill, relaxing in the hospital bed for a while until she felt restored enough. One thing was for certain. She didn't have time to spare lazing around, she had work to do.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This chapter feels like it's just a bunch of random crap thrown together, but oh well. I've officially given up on waiting for the graduation exam for the plot to change direction, so that's next chapter instead. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update for the next few weeks because I have parallel exams soon and I should probably study. Oh well.**


	5. The Sound Ninja Four

**A/N: Reviews are always appreciated, and I WILL give you cookies if you review my story (virtual of course :P). Big ups to my mate Sammy for reviewing 2 of the chapters under random anonymous names :)**  
><strong>Cookie Scoreboard:<strong>  
><strong>Sammy: 2 <strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: The Sound Ninja Four<strong>

* * *

><p>Yumi crept stealthily along the roof of a shop near the hospital. She looked up when she passed a massive oak tree. Sasuke was sitting on one of the larger branches of the tree, looking out over the village. She was about to go over to him when she felt an approaching presence. Ducking down she cast a transformation jutsu, merging into the roof tiles so that she could watch what would play out.<p>

* * *

><p>Sasuke was about to stand up when he felt wire wrap around him, trapping him against the tree trunk. A familiar jounin ninja landed on the end of the branch.<p>

"What do you want Kakashi?" Kakashi walked along the branch towards the trapped boy. Sasuke glared up at his teacher.

"That fight at the hospital today. You and Naruto could have killed each other, do you understand that?" Sasuke stayed silent, choosing not to bother gracing him with an answer. "You two need to learn some self-control and abandon this childish rivalry." When Sasuke still refused to talk he sighed and left, freeing Sasuke from the wire. He stood up and stretched.

* * *

><p>Yumi held her breath as Kakashi passed by not a metre away from her. Once she was certain he was gone she stood up, dispelling her transformation jutsu. As she was preparing to jump over to the tree four figures surrounded Sasuke on the branch. Yumi sighed, recognising their outfits. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her Sound village headband and tied it around her left arm. Finding an open space she jumped, landing in the middle of the group.<p>

* * *

><p>The four newcomers were all wearing oversized purple rope belts. They stood in a semi-circle around Sasuke, examining him. One other thing he noticed was that they were all wearing headbands with a musical note on them. The curse mark at the base of his neck tingled slightly. The big guy with six arms was about to say something when someone landed in-between them. The figure stood up, long black hair tied back in a ponytail.<p>

"What are you doing here?" Yumi ignored his question, instead she was scrutinising the four people on the branch in front of her.

"Girl, you should get out of here. This is none of your business." The six-armed guy stated, offering her an escape route. She stiffened and glared at him.

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm fine where I am." She folded her arms across her chest, the clink of metal drawing Sasuke's attention to her left arm. His eyes narrowed, she also had a musical note on the headband she wore wrapped around her arm, meaning that she knew the four people standing before them.

"Kidomaru, I want to know what you're doing here. Shouldn't you all be with my father?" Kidomaru flinched, his eyes drifting to her headband. He nudged the girl standing next to him and she nodded. They both knelt down on one knee, followed by the other two.

"Please forgive my behaviour just now Lady Yumi. We didn't know that you were here, so I didn't recognise you straight away." Yumi scratched the back of her head, uncomfortable with the way he was addressing her.

"It doesn't matter. But seriously, why are the lot of you here? Surely father is completely alone now." Tayuya looked up.

"Pardon my asking, but isn't Kabuto with Lord Orochimaru?" Yumi shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"No, he came down here with me by father's orders." Tayuya and Kidomaru exchanged a worried glance.

"Does that mean that Kabuto managed to heal Kimimaro?" Yumi frowned.

"I have no idea." Sasuke tensed, ready to escape while they were distracted. "Stay where you are Sasuke." She warned without as much as a glance back at him. "Whether I like it or not, father wants you, which means we have to bring you back."

"Actually, Lord Orochimaru said that he had to come of his own free will." Yumi stared blankly at Kidomaru.

"Are you serious? Fine." She turned to face Sasuke. "Apparently you have to decide whether you'll come with us or not. The question remains though. Do you want the power to defeat Itachi? If you come with us father can unseal your curse mark, allowing you to use its maximum power." Sasuke looked at her suspiciously.

"How did you know about Itachi?" Yumi grinned.

"Naruto Uzumaki. He's quite a blabbermouth." Sasuke clenched his fists by his sides.

"Meet us on the cliff overlooking the village at dawn if you wish to come with us." Yumi pouted and looked back at Kidomaru.

"No fair, I wanted to say that." She grinned. "Never mind. I'll see you guys soon." The four sound ninja jumped out into the night. Yumi pulled off her headband and shoved it back in her pocket. "You know the right choice." She leapt to the ground and ran off through the streets.

* * *

><p>Sasuke grabbed a bag and started shoving things inside. Yumi was right; he knew what he has to do. He needed power, power to defeat his brother Itachi. Bag packed he slung it over his shoulders and slunk out into the dark streets.<p>

* * *

><p>Yumi sat on the floor in the middle of her room. She bit her thumb, drawing blood, and summoned Kara.<p>

"Hey Kara, I need you to find Kabuto and tell him to meet me, along with the Sound ninja four, at the cliff overlooking the village as soon as possible. He'll probably be in the woods at the outskirts of the village somewhere." The snake nodded.

"I can do that. Kabuto's much nicer than your father." Yumi grinned as the snake slithered out her window and into the street. With that done she climbed to her feet and collected her things from around the room. They had gotten more scattered during her month in the Leaf than they had ever been in her own room back in the Sound village.

"Damn, where did I put my spare paper bombs?" She crawled around the room, looking under her desk. "Screw this, I don't even need them!" She cried in frustration, giving up on her fruitless search. Collapsing on her futon she stared up at the ceiling, taking a quick break from her packing. After about five minutes she sat up, grabbing her bag and checking what she had already packed. All of her personal items were there, the only things she was missing was things like the paper bombs she was struggling to find. "I give up." She slung her bag over her shoulders and walked out onto the balcony, shutting the door behind her. She jumped up onto the roof of the building next door and headed towards the edge of the village.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was walking along the cobblestone path leading out of the village when he heard footsteps behind him. He paused, and the footsteps stopped.<p>

"Sasuke, where are you going?" He let out a long breath.

"It's none of your business Sakura." Her breathing was shaky as she stepped closer to him.

"Are you leaving? Please tell me you're not leaving." She looked up, tears running down her face, only to find that he wasn't there anymore.

"Sakura, I was never here." He whispered from behind her. She jumped, but didn't turn around.

"Sasuke, let me come with you!"

"No Sakura, you have to stay here."

"I love you Sasuke!" She cried as he reached forward, knocking her out.

"I'm sorry Sakura." He whispered as he carried her over to a bench. "Thank you for everything." He set her down and continued walking down the path towards the cliff.

* * *

><p>Yumi reached the cliff before Kabuto did, leaving her time to talk to Tayuya, her only female companion during most of her life. When Kabuto showed up she went over to him.<p>

"Do you still have my uniform?" she asked him, putting on her headband. He nodded, and dug it out of his bag. "Thanks for looking after it Kabuto." She took the clothes out of his hands, picked up her purple belt and ran off to find somewhere secluded to get changed. She found the perfect spot, but unfortunately someone was already there. "Sakon get lost, I want to get changed." He looked up and she realised he wasn't wearing his necklace. "Oh, sorry Ukon. Do you mind leaving for a few minutes?" He stood up.

"Sure thing Yumi." He walked off, leaving Yumi alone.

"Thank you!" She called after him. Taking advantage of her newly found seclusion she changed back into her Sound village clothes, rejoicing in wearing the clothes she liked once more. She put her belt on and adjusted her headband, making sure it was sitting firmly on her forehead. Once she was satisfied she wandered back out to the clearing where everyone else was waiting. Ukon and Sakon had merged again, Tayuya was resting, Jirobo was almost asleep, and Kidomaru and Kabuto were keeping an eye on the village.

"Hey Yumi, do you still want me to teach you how to play the flute?" Tayuya offered, waving her over. The only noise which permeated the thick silence was the sound of Yumi playing Tayuya's flute. Kabuto stood up suddenly.

"This waiting is pointless, I'm going on ahead." He ran off into the forest without waiting for any objections. Yumi handed Tayuya back her flute and wandered over to keep watch with Kidomaru.

"When do you think he's going to show up?" she asked, bored. Kidomaru glanced down at her as she swung her legs over the cliff edge.

"Shouldn't you be worrying about whether he will come at all?" he wondered, folding one set of arms across his chest. She shook her head defiantly, gazing out over the Leaf village as the moon shone down on the hospital.

"I know him better than you do. He's definitely coming. It's just a question of when." She lay back on the ground, flicking the metal plate on her headband. "I'm not used to wearing this thing anymore." She commented as she watched the stars. Suddenly Yumi sat up, staring intensely at the space in front of her.

"What's wrong, snake got your tongue?" Sakon teased. A knife embedded itself into the tree barely a centimetre from his head.

"Hold your tongue Sakon." She growled, not turning around. "I could kill you right now for your impudence, but I would miss your brother if I killed the both of you so I'll let you off for now. Next time remember who you're talking to before you go saying things like that." Sakon glared angrily at the back of her head. He'd never openly admit it to anyone, not even Ukon, but when Yumi fought seriously she could easily beat him. It was the unpleasant reality, and not something he liked to dwell on.

Tayuya tensed up, finally sensing what Yumi had been on edge about. Someone was coming.

"He's here." Yumi stated as she stood up, straightening her belt and staring at the area of space in front of her once more. Feet slammed into the soft ground, causing a cloud of dust to blow up into Kidomaru's face as he turned around.

"Did I keep you waiting for long?" Sasuke asked as the dust settled around him. Yumi grinned as Kidomaru coughed violently, trying to expel the dust from his lungs.

"Well Kabuto left almost an hour ago, but I was happy spending as much time as possible watching the stars." She turned and walked over to a tree, picking up her bag. "That's one thing I'll really miss when I go home." She added quietly. Bag on her back she spun to face Sasuke and the Sound ninja four. "I think it's time we left, don't you agree?" Tayuya and Sakon climbed to their feet, Sakon turning sideways to kick Jirobo, waking him up.

"What's going on?" he grumbled, getting unsteadily to his feet. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"It's time to go home Jirobo." The six of them raced off into the forest, leaving the village behind forever.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, don't shoot me if you think the names are spelt wrong, I got the spellings off of wikipedia. As you may or may not have noticed I'm drifting back to the regular story line. From now on I'm going to more or less follow the storyline from the anime concerning the rescue operation etc.  
>Now a quick word from the cast:<br>Naruto: "I can't believe she stole my jutsu!" -.-  
><strong>**Sakura: "Why'd Sasuke have to leave?"  
>Sasuke: "..."<br>Choji: "Yumi gave me chips!"  
>Shikamaru: "Calm down Choji. What a drag, we weren't even in this chapter."<br>Yumi: "I really am going to miss seeing the stars..." :(  
>Tyki Mikk: "What the hell am I doing here? I'm not even in this story!" (I guess you're right, but you were too awesome to miss out) <strong>


	6. Sasuke Retrieval Squad part 1

**Chapter 6 - Formation of the Sasuke Retrieval Squad part 1**

* * *

><p>Two chunin were heading along the path to the edge of the village for their shift on border patrol when they came across a pink haired girl lying on a bench. The two men exchanged a look, playing rock paper scissors in a silent mental conversation to see who would wake her up.<p>

"Hey, you shouldn't sleep out here, it's dangerous." The blue haired ninja called softly to the girl. She sat up, rubbing her head. Looking around Sakura understood something. Sasuke was gone. Tears began streaming down the heartbroken girls face as reality set in. The border patrol ninja seemed uncomfortable with the new development, but the guy with blue hair stepped over to her. "What's wrong?" he asked the sobbing girl, kneeling down beside her. She glanced up and, seeing how bright the sky was getting, stood up and ran off, completely ignoring the chunin. He blinked, confused, while his partner struggled not to laugh at how the young girl had brushed him off so easily. Seeing no more reason to hang around their current position they continued on to the edge of the village.

* * *

><p>Somewhere in the forest…<p>

* * *

><p>"We've made some special arrangements to help you activate and control the curse marks second stage. Everyone here except for you can use stage 2. Under normal circumstances we would just let it develop on its own, but we have a deadline to meet." Kidomaru was trying to explain to Sasuke why he was going to have to be inside a coffin, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it.<p>

"What he's trying to say is that we need to forcefully activate it. The only problem being that it will but an extreme amount of pressure on your body, and it is possible for you to die during the process." Yumi began, interrupting Kidomaru. "That's where the coffin comes in. We can put you in a suspended state, enabling you to overcome the second stage without it killing you. Once the seals burn off you will be released from your suspended state and, hopefully, you will then be able to use stage 2." Sasuke stared at her from across the clearing where they had paused.

"Let's say I understand where you're going with this. Didn't the big guy just say that ALL of you could use the second stage?" Yumi glared over at Kidomaru, who skilfully ignored her.

"That is not an important detail."

"But if Orochimaru is your father then why would he give you a curse mark? It doesn't make sense." She sat down cross-legged on the grass and folded her arms, closing her eyes in annoyance. A vein in her head was pulsing angrily.

"If you absolutely insist on knowing then fine, I'll tell you. I asked for father to give me a curse mark, so that I could become stronger and be of more use to him." The air around her seemed to shimmer, influenced by her anger and impatience. Tayuya laid a comforting hand on the younger girls shoulder, causing her to open her eyes. "Thank you Tayuya." She unfolded her arms and climbed to her feet. "Kidomaru, do you have the enhancement pill?"

"It's right here." He replied, handing it out to her. She shook her head, refusing to touch the revolting pill, and instead gestured for him to give it to Sasuke. The Uchiha boy gave her a suspicious look before giving in and putting the pill in his mouth. After he swallowed it he collapsed into Kidomaru's arms.

"Hurry up!" Yumi demanded. "Do you want him to die?" Kidomaru placed Sasuke's unconscious body into the round barrel-like coffin. "Do it now." She commanded. The Sound ninja four surrounded the coffin. They began to chant while performing hand symbols, before completing the Shikokumujin sealing jutsu. "Sakon, now it's your turn." The two-headed man spared a moment to glare hatefully at the young girl before adding his own sealing jutsu, the Fuukoku houin, to the coffin's lid.

"Who's going to carry it?" Sakon asked, hoping it wouldn't be him. Yumi looked around, assessing the options before her.

"Kidomaru will carry it, for now anyway." With that settled the six armed man settled the coffin across his back. "We should get going now. It won't take long for that Tsunade to send a search party out after us." The four nodded in agreement before leaving the clearing to continue in their journey.

* * *

><p>Back in the Leaf…<p>

* * *

><p>Sakura ran blindly through the village. She knew where she had to go, what she had to do, who she had to tell. Reaching the base of the tower she paused, rubbing furiously at her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the tears. She knew it was pointless, but she needed the time to calm down before talking to the hokage. Glancing up at the sky she saw that the sun was getting ever higher. Her mind was already made up and now was the time to go through with it. She ran up the stairs to the top of the tower, taking them two at a time. When she reached the door to Lady Tsunade's office she froze, building up the nerve to knock on the door.<p>

"Sakura this is no time to be scared." She scolded herself, steeling her nerves before barging into Tsunade's office, forgetting about knocking altogether. The blonde sannin looked up from her papers.

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked angrily. Sakura stood up straight and clenched her fists at her sides.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion Lady Hokage, but I have something important I need to tell you." Her voice quivered slightly as she addressed Tsunade. "Sasuke's gone. He left sometime last night." The cup of green tea in Tsunade's hand shattered as she stood up.

"This is bad news." She bit her thumb as Shizune scampered around the desk, trying to save the papers from getting drenched in tea. "Kotetsu!" She yelled loudly. Footsteps pounded down the hallway and said ninja entered the room.

"Milady."

"Kotetsu, I need you to get Shikamaru and bring him here immediately." Kotetsu nodded and left the room.

"Mi-Milady, what's going to happen?" Tsunade shook her head and looked out the window instead. _This is bad, really bad. If he's gone to Orochimaru then we have to get to him before he reaches Orochimaru's hideout…_ She stomped her foot on the ground in frustration.

"Damn that sneaky old bastard." She muttered quietly to herself, only loud enough for Shizune to hear. A medical ninja burst through the door, interrupting her train of thought.

"Milady, you told us to report if anything strange happened." Tsunade glared at him.

"Out with it already!" The man flinched and fiddled with a stray thread on his sleeve.

"Well we went to check on the condition of Yumi Fujikawa this morning and she wasn't in her room. We looked everywhere but we can't find her. She has gone missing." Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise at the news, before narrowing in anger. Sakura turned to the man.

"Why was Yumi in the hospital?" He stiffened, not having noticed her presence when he arrived. He was decidedly unsure of what he was allowed to tell her, so he chose silence instead.

"Sakura, you're dismissed." Tsunade ordered. The younger girl looked as though she was about to cry again, especially with the added news of her new friend's disappearance, and Tsunade had no wish to witness her waterworks. Reluctantly Sakura nodded and walked slowly out of the office, passing Shikamaru on the stairs.

* * *

><p>"I knew there was something off about that brat. She's involved in this somehow, I can feel it." Shikamaru stepped into the hokage's office, interrupting Tsunade's interrogation ofconversation with the hospital medical ninja.

"Shikamaru, good. We have a serious situation that I need your help with." He rubbed the back of his head. _What a drag…_

"What happened?" he asked, taking a quick glance at the white uniformed medical ninja in the corner of the office.

"Sasuke Uchiha has left the village and Yumi Fujikawa has gone missing. I believe they may have left together. We need to put a team together to go after them as soon as possible. Almost all of the jounin are out on missions right now, so I need you to put together a team of promising genin, including Naruto. You have half an hour." Shikamaru nodded almost imperceptibly. He may not like having this sort of responsibility shoved on him, but he understood the magnitude of the situation.

Shikamaru was wandering through the streets towards Choji's house when he ran into Naruto.

"Naruto, I need you to come with me." The blonde boy seemed confused.

"How come?" Shikamaru sighed and kept walking, talking as he went.

"Sasuke's gone and Lady Tsunade has put me in charge of making a team to get him back." Naruto's face turned angry as he walked.

"I see…" He was quiet for the rest of the walk. "What are we doing here?" he asked once they stopped. Shikamaru grinned.

"We can't go without Choji." The house was silent as the two boys stared up at it.

"That's great and all, but how are we going to get him to come down here?"

"You really are clueless sometimes Naruto." Shikamaru laughed, pulling a packet of chips out of his bag and giving Naruto a knowing look. Cracking open the bag he offered Naruto some chips. A look of understanding passed over the blonde boys face and he grabbed some chips from the bag. Soon enough there was only one chip left. Shikamaru held the bag out and waited as the sound of footsteps grew louder and louder from inside the house. Naruto backed off as the door slammed open, revealing a hungry Choji. He raced out the door and snatched the packet out of Shikamaru's hand, eating the last chip happily.

"Well Choji, now that you're up I have a proposal for you." He explained the situation to Choji as the boy ate another bag of chips.

* * *

><p>Somewhere in the forest…<p>

* * *

><p>Yumi stopped, hand brushing the trunk of the tree she was standing on. Tayuya glanced back and saw that she had stopped.<p>

"Yumi, what's wrong?" She called. Yumi held up a hand, motioning for her to be quiet.

"Someone's coming this way. They're getting closer." Tayuya hurried to catch up with the others, informing them of the situation.

"I see. What do you want us to do?" Kidomaru asked Yumi, readjusting the coffin strapped across his back. She stayed silent for a moment, thinking over her options once more.

"You guys go ahead, I'll handle them."

"Are you sure you can handle that?" Sakon asked teasingly, earning himself yet another anger filled glare.

"I'll be fine. You have to keep going. It won't be safe until we get Sasuke all the way to father." Kidomaru nodded his agreement and headed off, since he was the one currently in possession of Sasuke's body. Sakon, Tayuya and Jirobo quickly followed suit, leaving Yumi alone to face their pursuers. "Bring it on." She whispered, punching the tree trunk beside her.

* * *

><p>Genma and Raido were heading back toward the village after finishing a mission when they noticed the presence of a group of people heading in the opposite direction through the woods.<p>

"We should go and check it out." Genma and Raido changed direction to follow the strangers. What they came across was completely different than what they had expected. They stopped in their tracks when they discovered a young girl sitting on the branch of a tree, watching their approach. Genma stepped forward.

"What are you doing out here in the forest? Are you lost?" Yumi rolled her eyes and stood up, adjusting her headband. "Hold on…" Genma had noticed her headbands insignia. "Raido, she's from the Sound village! Capture her!" She smirked and held a kunai out in front of her in a defensive position, waiting for them to attack. They charged at her, one from either side. Sighing in annoyance Yumi shifted, switching her kunai from her right hand to her left and lashing out with a roundhouse kick to Raido's head. He collapsed to the ground as she slashed Genma across the chest with her kunai.

"You fools aren't even worth my time. I didn't even have to power up." She complained, turning her back on them in a fake show of overconfidence. Genma climbed to his feet. The slash wasn't as deep as it could have been since she had been distracted with Raido. He tried to move stealthily up behind her for a surprise attack. Frowning Yumi kicked back, planting her foot on his already wounded chest. Genma cried out in pain but she wasn't finished with him. She followed him to the ground, landing on top of him and knocking the breath from his lungs.

"Argh…" She punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious, before wandering over to Raido. He was unconscious, but if he woke up to quickly he would easily catch up. Gritting her teeth she stamped down on his leg, cringing when she heard a loud crunching/snapping sound. Doing the same to Genma she stole their weapons, insuring they would be useless. Satisfied with the job she had done she turned on a heel and activated her curse mark to increase her speed. She was going to need it if she wanted to catch up with the others. Splashes of black covered her body as she raced deeper into the forest, determined not to be left behind.

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><p><strong>AN: This one's a little bit longer than the others, but admittedly not by much. Wow though, 2 chapters uploaded for this story in 3 (?) days, that's a first. Reviews are always welcome you guys (and yes, that was a not so subtle hint). **


	7. Sasuke Retrieval Squad part 2

**Chapter 7 - Formation of the Sasuke Retrieval Squad part 2**

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><p>"Alright, does everyone know the plan?" Shikamaru had gathered a team which consisted of Naruto, Choji, Neji, Kiba and Akamaru. Sakura and Rock Lee were standing by the gate, watching them.<p>

"Don't worry Sakura." Naruto called, giving her a big thumbs up. "I promise I'll definitely bring Sasuke back and we'll definitely find Yumi." She smiled weakly at him.

"I believe you Naruto."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go already!" Shikamaru climbed to his feet and looked around.

"Naruto's right. They've had a big head start and are getting further away each second." Everyone nodded in agreement and, after taking one last quick look back at the Leaf village, the five boys and one dog headed off into the forest. Sakura watched them go with tears in her eyes. Lee noticed her expression and gave her an awkward thumbs up, leaning on his crutches.

"Naruto promised didn't he? He always keeps his promises."

"I know. Thanks Lee." Sakura smiled at him and together they walked back into the village, the ones who were left behind.

* * *

><p>"Arf arf." Kiba looked down at Akamaru.<p>

"What is it boy?" Akamaru barked again and Kiba listened intently before sniffing the air. "Yeah, you're right. I can smell it too." He ran up to Shikamaru.

"What's wrong Kiba? Can you smell something?" Kiba nodded gravely.

"Akamaru can smell it better than I can but it's definitely there. The scent of blood. It's coming from up ahead." Shikamaru frowned, thinking.

"We can't afford to waste too much time, but if they're close it wouldn't hurt to check it out." Kiba fell back, keeping an eye out for the source of the scent drifting on the wind.

"It's coming from over there." He called quietly, pointing through the trees off to his right. Shikamaru looked back and adjusted their course so they were heading in the right direction. The trees began to thin out as they travelled. Neji was the first person to locate the source by using his byakugan.

"Down there." He called, dropping down to the ground as the others followed.

"Who's there?" Raido had regained consciousness and had propped himself up against a tree trunk.

"What happened here?" Neji wondered as he knelt down next to Genma.

"We were attacked." Everyone turned to stare at Raido." Genma said he sensed people moving away from the village so we decided to check it out. Unfortunately they must have anticipated that, since they sent someone out to meet us." Shikamaru had been listening intently.

"Is that how you got injured?" Raido nodded bitterly.

"They sent a little girl to do their dirty work for them. She caught us off guard. We didn't expect her to be so skilled."

"What did she look like?" Raido paused for a moment, thinking.

"She was about the same height as all of you, she had long black hair and blue eyes." Choji and Shikamaru exchanged a worried look.

"She sounds familiar." Naruto commented, squinting as he tried to remember. Kiba rolled his eyes. Naruto had spent more time with her than anyone else had and yet he still couldn't figure out who they were talking about.

"Idiots will always be idiots." He muttered distractedly.

"Will you be okay here?" Shikamaru asked, giving Kiba a look telling him to shut up.

"I'll be fine." Raido reassured them, hesitantly shifting his shattered leg. Shikamaru climbed back to his feet.

"We have to keep moving. Do you think Akamaru can track her?" Kiba nodded.

"No problem. The girl spent enough time hanging around him."

"Hold on, do you people know her?" Raido interrupted, confused. Neji, Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba all looked at each other while Naruto sat down on the ground in frustration.

"How come you guys all know? I don't have a clue who it was." The others all came to a silent agreement not to bother trying to explain it to Naruto. He would find out when they caught up. It would waste too much time trying to make him understand anyway, time they couldn't afford to waste.

"Have you found her?" Shikamaru asked, ignoring Naruto. Kiba nodded. "Alright then, let's go. You can lead the way Kiba."

* * *

><p>Yumi had finally managed to catch up with the others. What they realised soon after was that they were all beginning to get worn out from using their curse marks to increase their speed. Yumi in particular was exhausted since she had used more of the curse marks power than everyone else trying to catch up. Reluctantly they all agreed to take a break, setting up perimeter traps before settling down to rest.<p>

* * *

><p>They had been running for around twenty minutes when Kiba stopped suddenly, holding out an arm to get everyone else to stop.<p>

"Did you find something?" Shikamaru asked, crouching down on the branch.

"They're close." Shikamaru looked up.

"'They're'?" He frowned slightly. "I thought we were only following her."

"We were. About three minutes ago I picked up the scent of four more people. I don't recognise any of them, but they're extremely close."

"Alright then. This is where we split up. Naruto, you and Neji will go from the ground. Kiba and Akamaru will take the left and me and Choji will take the right." Naruto sighed, frustrated, and dropped from the tree, his hand brushing a bush as he landed, sending a vibration up a spider silk thread.

* * *

><p>Kidomaru's finger twitched as something tugged on one of his threads. He opened one of his eyes and looked over at Yumi without moving his head.<p>

"They're here." Yumi nodded her head almost imperceptibly.

"I know; I can sense them. There are six of them. No, five. Five and a small animal, probably a dog." She kept her eyes closed, pretending that she didn't know they were there. "No-one is to make any sudden movements. Let them think they have the advantage."

"Good plan." Tayuya whispered from her position next to Yumi. A bush off to her right rustled and she threw one of the kunai she had been hiding behind her back at it, causing a cry of outrage and surprise to fill the air.

"Naruto, always an idiot." Yumi muttered, not realising that Kiba had said almost exactly the same thing not too long ago. The blonde boy in question jumped backwards and tripped another trap wire, sending a barrage of kunai in his direction. Neji jumped in front of him and managed to deflect all of them using his byakugan. Yumi frowned, realising she didn't know him and had no knowledge of his skills. She stood up, irritated, and was about to go over to them when she sensed another presence.

"Sakon, move it! Move the coffin!" She yelled, startling the two headed man into action. He had barely got the coffin out of the way when something hit the ground where it had been. Yumi jumped back as well, avoiding the continuation of the attack. The spinning stopped, revealing two Kibas.

"Nice work Kiba!" Naruto called from the side line. One of the Kibas and Yumi both turned to glare at him.

"Shut up idiot!" They both yelled angrily, before glancing at each other in surprise. Naruto had a sudden spark of brilliance and managed to figure out what was happening. His cries of confusion and demands for answers were ignored by everyone as Kiba and Yumi stared each other down.

"You thought you could fool me with your silly human mimicry jutsu?" In actual fact she thought it was a pretty cool technique, but they were enemies now, so she had to act that way. Kiba frowned.

"Come on Akamaru. Fang over fang, one more time!" They attacked her, but she danced out of the way, just as Sasuke had once done to her. Kidomaru, Tayuya and Jirobo climbed to their feet and moved over to Sakon and the coffin. Yumi paused, eyes closed, before she jumped back, landing on top of Sasuke's holding crate.

"Nice try Shikamaru." She called, hands on her hips. "Hey, is anyone going to introduce me to the kid with the long hair? I'm feeling kinda left out here." Neji kept back, the veins near his eyes bulging as he used his byakugan to scan the area.

"Shikamaru, Sasuke isn't here, but I can't see inside that coffin over there. That's probably where they're keeping him, but I can't tell for certain." Shikamaru dropped down into the view of the clearing, a strange look of concentration on his face. Naruto ran into the centre of the clearing, interrupting the intense silence between Yumi, Kiba and Shikamaru.

"Yumi, what are you doing here? Did they kidnap you?" She rolled her eyes in astonishment at his innocent and naïve mind.

"Don't be stupid Naruto." Kiba reprimanded him. "Can't you see that she's with these guys by her own free will?" Naruto turned to glare at him.

"I don't believe you! She's a good person." Yumi snuck up behind him and held a kunai to his throat.

"Sometimes it's better to just listen to your comrades when they tell you something." She lectured sarcastically. Naruto squirmed and she held the knife closer to his neck.

"But you're my comrade too! I believe in you. There's no way you turned on us, right?"

"Seriously Naruto? You need to learn how to think logically." She cringed as she felt her arm quiver. She had taken her attention away from Shikamaru long enough for him to perform his famous shadow possession jutsu. Kidomaru jumped forward and pulled her away, breaking his hold on her.

"We have to keep going." Yumi informed her underlings. "If we waste too much time here we won't make it back to father in time." They all nodded in agreement as Yumi kept her eyes on the others. She was worried, since Choji had yet to make his appearance. "Someone needs to stay here and keep them busy while the rest of us go in ahead. Who's it going to be?" Jirobo stepped forward, cracking his knuckles.

"Leave this to me." Yumi frowned. He wouldn't be her first choice, but since he had volunteered she couldn't really do anything about it.

"Alright then, but remember. There's still one more of them hiding out somewhere, waiting for a chance to attack." He made a grunt of acknowledgement, but she knew he had been ignoring her. "Choji, you may as well reveal yourself. I know you're out there!" She called into the forest. A giant hand shot out of nowhere and she screamed, caught off guard.

"What was that?" Naruto had asked the question plaguing Yumi's mind. Shikamaru grinned and rose out from his crouch he liked to use when attempting shadow possession. The hand disappeared and Choji appeared from behind one of the trees. She breathed a sigh of relief since he had finally come out into the open as opposed to hiding at the edge of her sight.

"Come on, we're leaving." She urged, motioning for Tayuya to carry the coffin this time.

"Yes, we'll leave these pests to Jirobo." With that said Yumi, Sakon, Tayuya and Kidomaru turned and ran off into the trees.

"Wait, hold on!" Naruto called, trying to run after them. Shikamaru dropped down to restrain Naruto and while they were distracted Jirobo clapped his hands together and went through a motion of hand signs.

"Earth style, prison jutsu." The ground around them trembled and started to rise on either side of the group.

"What's happening?" Naruto was confused, like always. Shikamaru ground his teeth together, angry at himself for letting them fall into a trap. The light cut out and they found themselves trapped in a dome of dirt.

"He can't trap us like that!" Kiba exclaimed. "Come on Akamaru, we're breaking out. Fang over fang!" The two of them attacked the wall in front of them, causing a deep hole to appear. "Alright! It's working." His joy was premature however, as the wall quickly began to mend itself.

"What sort of messed up place IS this?" He whined, depressed. They all sank down to the ground. Shikamaru had his thinking face on again, and he wasn't going to let them fail so easily.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yeah okay so I kinda maybe sorta made up that prison jutsu 'cause I couldn't remember what it was he actually did. Oh well. A little variation never hurt anyone :P Let's get these reviews coming in guys. It doesn't have to be much, 'cause I know how much effort it takes to decide to write one. Exams are getting me down at the moment, so the next update will be slow coming. Sorry about that.**


	8. The Battle Commences

**Chapter 8: The Battles Commence**

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><p>Jirobo held his hands up against the earth dome in which the Leaf ninja had been successfully trapped. They had tried to break the walls earlier, but they had quickly given up. He smiled maliciously as he slowly absorbed their chakra. Muffled voices floated through to him but he ignored them, assuming it was the pointless whining of brats.<p>

* * *

><p>"I think I know how to get out of here." All eyes turned to Neji as he stood against the wall, veins popping as he used his byakugan. Naruto kicked the wall before sinking down to sit cross-legged on the dusty ground. He squinted angrily at the roof of the cavern.<p>

"Oh yeah? What makes you think you can get out when we couldn't?" Kiba smacked Naruto over the head as Shikamaru motioned for Neji to explain his idea.

"I'm sure you all noticed how the walls repaired themselves after Kiba made all those indentations." Naruto frowned and folded his arms, obviously clueless. Neji sighed. "Anyway, I thought it was strange so I decided to investigate. It would seem that these walls are filled with chakra. There is one point where the chakra flow is weaker than everywhere else."

"Well where is it then?" Naruto badgered angrily. Kiba and Neji both glared at him.

"The chakra is at its weakest right behind my head." Kiba nodded in understanding and exchanged a glance with Shikamaru.

"I know what to do."

* * *

><p>Further into the Forest…<p>

* * *

><p>Yumi watched thoughtfully from the back of the group as they ran through the forest towards the hideout. She was sceptical about how long Jirobo would be able to hold them off for. Everyone else seemed convinced that he could easily take care of all of them, but they didn't know the Leaf ninja like she did. They were stronger than the Sound ninja thought they were, and underestimating the enemy was never a wise move.<p>

"Tayuya, we have to move faster, they're coming." Kidomaru and Sakon glanced back at her, Sakon with a malicious grin on his face.

"There's no way that's possible Milady." He pointed out in that superior fashion of his. "They wouldn't be able to beat Jirobo so easily." She glared at him as they continued to move. Secretly she hoped he would bang into a tree, but with two heads that was never going to happen. Keeping one eye on her feet she watched Tayuya running ahead with Sasuke's coffin.

* * *

><p>Sasuke's P.O.V (In the coffin)<p>

* * *

><p>Everything was dark. I was cold and hot at the same time. It felt like everything was closing in on me and I couldn't move at all. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't hear anything, in fact I could barely hear the sound of my own heartbeat. I was pretty sure that my eyes were closed, but I couldn't be certain. As soon as I tried to move my arms a sharp pain exploded inside my head. Yumi had mentioned something about suspended animation or something like that, but all I could think was that I was dying. I had trusted Yumi and those Sound ninja, and now I was going to die without getting my revenge on Itachi. <em>No, what am I saying? I swore to get my revenge, I'm not going to die here!<em> The pain in my head subsided a little as I focused on my vengeance. My brother WOULD pay for what he did, even if it was the last thing I did.

* * *

><p>Regular P.O.V<p>

* * *

><p>"Are you sure we should have left Choji there by himself?" Naruto asked nervously as they raced through the forest. "I know he said he would be right behind us, but that was a big guy…"<p>

"We did what was necessary." Shikamaru called back to him. "If we all stayed behind to fight we would never be able to catch up with the rest of their group. Our mission is to retrieve Sasuke and Yumi, and we have yet to accomplish either." Naruto nodded grimly and stopped talking, for the moment anyway.

* * *

><p>"They're gaining on us." Yumi warned, speeding up to run with Tayuya. "Who's going to fight next?" Kidomaru landed heavily on one of the branches and stayed there.<p>

"I will." Yumi paused and nodded to him.

"You better not die, you hear me?" Kidomaru nodded, crossing his arms across his torso as he turned to wait for the arrival of their pursuers.

"You worry too much." Sakon teased as the three of them continued their journey across the Land of Fire.

"Well you don't worry enough, so I think that evens it out." Yumi retorted sourly. It was true though, for a ten year old she worried far more than was healthy, but that sort of thing came with the job. Tayuya listened disinterestedly to the two of them fight as her own thoughts turned to worry. They had a deadline, and if they didn't meet it then Sasuke's usefulness may have run its course. In any case they would definitely be punished for being late.

* * *

><p>"Naruto hold on, we have company." The four Leaf ninja stopped suddenly at Shikamaru's warning. Neji glared over at one of the trees up ahead.<p>

"Well well well." Came a voice from the tree. Kidomaru came into view with his arms crossed over his chest. "Your little group is down a member. Maybe Jirobo did a better job than we thought he did."

The ninja didn't know what to expect from the six-armed man, they were going to be in for a surprise.

* * *

><p>"Tayuya, Sakon. Do you guys think Kidomaru will be okay?" Yumi honestly couldn't have cared less about what may or may not have happened to Jirobo, but she was worried about Kidomaru. Sakon was her enemy, but Tayuya and Kidomaru had been her friends when she was growing up.<p>

"You really have no faith in the legendary Sound Ninja Four now do you?" Sakon teased from her right. He really had no dignity, and he loved making fun of the young girl, even at the risk of having her lash out at him in anger. She had a short temper most of the time.

"Tayuya?" She asked again, ignoring the harsh remark she had gotten from Sakon. He was just being a pain in the neck anyway.

"I'm sure he'll be fine." She replied, trying to sooth the girl's frantic nerves. Yumi nodded and sighed in frustration. Not knowing things was something that drove her crazy, and right then she didn't know anything at all.

* * *

><p>Time Skip<p>

* * *

><p>"Neji will be fine taking on that guy, right?" Their group had dwindled down to three people and a dog, and things weren't exactly looking good for them.<p>

"You people are useless!" A loud girlish scream echoed through the forest towards them, startling Akamaru and Naruto.

"What the heck was that?" Shikamaru ignored Naruto, as per usual.

"We're getting close." He pointed out, trying to encourage them to pick up their pace.

* * *

><p>"You people are useless!" Yumi screamed angrily. The energy signatures of three people were approaching them once more, and gaining on them. Kidomaru had let himself be outsmarted in the same way Jirobo had. She had honestly thought he was smarter than that big idiot Jirobo, but apparently she had been mistaken. Turning her furious eyes to Sakon she glared at him as she waited until she had calmed down enough to not scream the next thing she said at the top of her voice.<p>

"Sakon," She called, stopping suddenly "It's your turn to fight. You had better not let them trick you like they tricked Jirobo and Kidomaru." Sakon rolled his eyes in her direction.

"I'm not as thick as Jirobo, so please don't lump me in the same group as him." Yumi glared daggers at him and stretched out one hand, the air around her fingers distorted as though by heat waves. She was pissed off; it hadn't exactly been a good day.

"Okay, okay, I understand. I'll go show those stupid Leaf ninja what they're getting themselves into."

* * *

><p>"Damnit, there's another one." Shikamaru pulled up short and glanced over at Kiba and Akamaru. "Do you think you can handle him Kiba?" He had a feeling that this guy would be harder to escape from than the first two.<p>

* * *

><p>Time skip<p>

* * *

><p>"Tayuya…" Yumi was panicking big time. Two people were still following them, which meant that they had been able to outsmart Sakon for long enough to get past him. Biting her lip she sent out a quick prayer that maybe Ukon wouldn't get hurt in Sakon's fight. She had no idea why, but she liked Ukon better.<p>

"They're still coming aren't they?" Yumi nodded nervously as the pressure began to seriously start messing with her head.

"Hmm…" Yumi glanced over at the older woman.

"What is it Tayuya?"

"I'm going to have to fight them off, so you'll have to keep going with Sasuke." Yumi shook her head defiantly.

"No! I'll fight, you keep going."

"I'm afraid I can't. They want you back too, that's a part of their mission. I can't in good conscience let you hand yourself over to them."

"But Tayuya…"

"No buts. You have to listen to me this time." Yumi pouted but stopped talking and listened. "Our mission is more important than deciding who is going to fight our pursuers, and it is also important that we try any way we can to impede the Leaf Village." Yumi nodded slowly in understanding. She wasn't happy about it, but she knew it was something that had to be done whether she liked it or not.

"Fine, I understand." Tayuya removed the cylindrical coffin from her back and dropped it carefully onto the branch between herself and Yumi. The young girl glanced disapprovingly at the wooden creation before looking back up at Tayuya.

"If we're going to go through with this you should really get going." Yumi commented coldly, trying to hide the worry in her voice by disguising it as being uncaring. She honestly wasn't sure how well it was working though.

"Don't worry about me Yumi." Tayuya said, trying to reassure the girl as much as herself. Three out of the four members of the Sound Ninja Four had already suffered mysterious defeats at the hands of the Leaf genin, and she knew she was going to have to keep her guard up.

Yumi watched sadly for a moment as Tayuya leapt away through the trees before turning around to face the coffin. It disgusted her just as much as the pill that they had given to Sasuke. Everything about the forceful awakening disgusted her, it was just plain unnatural. Not that the curse marks were natural either, but those were gifts from her father, so there was a difference, at least in her mind. Glaring at the white container she hoisted it across her back, staggering slightly under its weight. Reluctantly she partially activated her heaven curse mark, hoping that it would help her deal with the additional weight on her back. Steadying herself she started off in the direction of her father's hideout closest to the Leaf village, the one that they had originally been heading towards.

For all Yumi wanted to do a good job and not let Tayuya or her father down it was rather difficult for a girl who was almost eleven to carry something twice her weight and almost three times her size. There was really no possible way for her to carry the coffin all the way to the hideout. Even with her curse mark partially activated she couldn't really carry any more weight than she normally could. A grey-blue strand of hair fell down in front of her eyes and she reached up with one slightly grey hand to brush it out of the way. Yumi took pride in her black hair, so it irritated her that using her curse mark turned it a different colour, not to mention the awful grey complexion. She may only have been ten but she was vain and self-conscious.

She sighed in relief as she found a large grassy clearing. There was an uncomfortable heat against her back and she decided that Sasuke must have been near regaining consciousness. Running to the opposite edge of the clearing she set the coffin down on the green grass and sat down in front of it, waiting for the person she knew was coming after her.

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><p><strong>AN: I am sooo sorry everyone for taking such a long time to update. I just breezed past all the little lead up fights because I didn't really care about going in to too much detail about them. One particular part of this chapter was requested by Z.C.A, so that just goes to show that if you want to see something feel free to suggest it, I do listen to what you say.**

**Read and Review please :) Creative criticism is appreciated, hate is banned.**


	9. The Uchiha Awakens

**Chapter 9: The Uchiha Awakens**

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><p>Yumi sat in the long grass slumped against the coffin with her eyes closed. Naruto was nearing her location. She could tell it was him because his presence was different than that of the other Leaf ninja. That didn't surprise her though, not after what her father and Kabuto had told her about him having the kyuubi trapped inside of him. Instead it made perfect sense, and it was an added bonus because she could always tell where he was in regards to other people. It did mean however, that Tayuya had let him past, which only made her job more difficult.<p>

There was a dull thud from up ahead of her and her eyes snapped open, revealing black irises with grey pupils. The whites of her eyes were also black; her regular icy blue eyes had been sacrificed to her curse mark in order for her to fight properly. She had heard stories, the nine tailed demon fox was strong, so she wasn't about to take the irritating blonde boy lightly in a fight. It would appear that he had yet to notice her presence, perhaps because of the tall grass and the fact that she was still sitting. Either way she currently had the advantage. Breathing out she concentrated and fully released her curse mark, grimacing as her hair changed colour entirely to become an awful blue-grey as it broke free of her braid to hang around her face in a slightly frizzy curtain. Glancing down at her arms she saw they were a darker grey now, a colour that made her look sickly and weak.

Naruto was too thick to even notice the spike in her chakra, which just proved to her how much of an air-head the boy was. Getting into a crouching position Yumi watched as the blonde looked around the clearing, trying to figure out where he needed to go next. It really was lucky that the long haired boy with the byakugan wasn't with him; otherwise she would have been discovered long ago.

She let out a surprised gasp when she saw he was just standing in the centre of the field. He must have been really clueless, meaning he hadn't been paying any attention to where she had been going at all. His eyes finally turned in her direction and they lit up at the sight of the ugly wooden coffin. Keeping low to the ground she watched him approach, noting that he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings as he walked as he was too intent on getting to Sasuke. Either those two were really good friends or Naruto was a gay stalker. Yumi had to suppress a bubble of hysterical laughter that rose up when she decided that the kyuubi host was a stalker with a thing for Sasuke Uchiha. If her father didn't want him so badly she would have gladly left the stupid Uchiha boy to get attacked by his stalker, but even though she despised him for receiving the same curse mark as her she knew there was no getting around the mission at hand.

When Naruto was about 6 metres away from her position she threw a kunai in his direction. Amazingly he managed to dodge it, and she quickly scurried off to a different position in case he had actually noticed where it had come from. Naruto was looking around with a sort of spaced out expression on his face, which only added to the mystery of how he had managed to dodge it.

"Who's there?" He called out, still spinning around and trying to find the person who had attacked him. Yumi rolled her eyes, she was the only one left and yet he still couldn't figure it out? He was even more of an idiot than she had given him credit for. Rising out of her crouch she jumped up to land on top of the coffin, a quick glance at her feet confirming that yes, the seals were smoking. It was almost time for the young Uchiha to come out and play.

"Yo, Blondie, looking for something?" She folded her arms across her chest aggressively, a habit she had picked up from Kidomaru. Naruto followed the voice to find himself looking at the coffin again, but this time someone was standing on top of it. Yumi was acting rather bitter now, really not appreciating the fact that she was now alone. If Kabuto hadn't gotten so impatient then she could have taken Naruto on while he continued on towards the base. She flicked her headband impatiently. At least when Sasuke got out he would be able to make his own way there while she held of the bratty stalker genin.

"Who are you?" He asked, extremely confused. She glanced down at herself. A puzzled expression played across her face as she took in her appearance. It was still obviously her, she wasn't even using stage 2, and all that had changed was her complexion and the whole colouration thing.

"Naruto idiots should stay behind and leave the fighting to the big kids." Making some hand signs she created several shadow clones that formed a defensive line in front of the coffin. Yumi jumped down to land in front of them, not really wanting to be up there when he finally got out. Naruto scowled and looked across at her.

"I don't get it. Have I met you before? You seem familiar…" If she hadn't been about to engage in a serious fight Yumi would have face-palmed herself, but that would just have to wait for later.

"So let's just say that we have met. All you need to know is that I'm your enemy." With that she bit her thumb and summoned one of her father's giant snakes for some extra help. He didn't seem to be too happy about being summoned out of the blue by her, but at the prospect of a fight he perked up a bit. The blood mixing with her grey skin made an awful picture, and Naruto had a sudden urge to gag, giving Yumi an easy opening. Three shuriken went flying through the air, one hitting him in the back, one nicking his left arm, and one missing completely as he snapped out of his daze after the first two made contact. _Damn, I was so close to hitting him too_ Yumi whined in her mind, annoyed that she hadn't hit him with all of them. Her aim was better than that, maybe her mind was wandering, for she certainly wasn't getting the results she wanted.

"Why is your skin grey, are you sick?" Yumi was attacking the guy, and he was asking if she was sick? Something must have been wired wrong in his brain, or maybe Tayuya gave him a good smack on the head for her. Either way, he seemed reluctant to fight back. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or annoyed, because fighting someone who wasn't going to fight back seemed like a waste of energy. The snake grumbled something about the fight being boring before he threatened to go back. Yumi shushed him with a wave of her kunai wielding hand. The seals on the coffin were smoking intensely now, and she knew it was only moments away from opening.

A grunt sounded from inside the coffin, and the seals disappeared altogether. Yumi's clones all backed up, surrounding Naruto instead. They all turned to watch as the lid was kicked off, exposing a rather angry Uchiha. His skin seemed a bit off-colour, almost slightly grey, but that was probably an aftereffect of the forceful awakening. She wouldn't know, since she hadn't had to go through that particular process. Sasuke climbed out of the coffin, glaring briefly at Naruto before immediately turning his gaze to the real Yumi, who was holding a kunai in her mouth and several shuriken in her hands. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question as to her appearance.

"You look different Yumi. Where are we going and why is he here?" Sasuke glared angrily once more at Naruto when he voiced his other question. Yumi pointed in one direction.

"Go that way and don't stop. Kabuto or someone else will hopefully be further along to guide you if you get lost, but let's hope it doesn't come to that." She had had to drop the kunai on the ground in order to speak, and she quickly picked it back up with her spare hand. He nodded briefly and ran for it, ignoring Naruto's voice as he called after him, telling him to come back.

As Naruto made to follow Sasuke Yumi motioned for the snake to block the path. He nodded and did as he was instructed, sensing that the fight might get serious now. Naruto might have been about 2 years older than her, but she had had four extra years of training compared to him. He glared in her direction, his anger finally starting to show through.

"I don't understand why you're helping them!" Naruto complained angrily. Yumi was unsure whether that meant he had finally figured out who she was or if it meant that he was just confused in general. It was most likely the latter option. Her shadow clones encircled him, all drawing their own kunai as one of them held a blade to his throat. Even so, they were only clones, and sooner or later he would remember that and break free.

"If by helping them you mean aiding the object of your obsession to escape your clutches then yes, I am helping them." Yumi was teasing him now, trying to stall for time before he really tried to make a break for it. With her clones holding him still it felt like cheating, but she couldn't afford to fight on even grounds, and there was no such thing as fair for a ninja. Using her increased agility she disappeared, reappearing behind him as she slashed a line across his back, unfortunately destroying one of her clones in the process. He winced, twitching and trying to break out of their hold.

With a snap of her fingers the clone disappeared in clouds of smoke, leaving the boy completely free and able to move again. He blinked in surprise, flexing his hands and cringing when he stretched out, pulling at the gash on his back. Yumi grinned maliciously. Even if he did manage to get away, she had injured him now, so he wouldn't be able to do anything. Shaking her head she reprimanded herself. If she began to think like that then she would end up just letting him go, and that wasn't going to look good for her when she got back to base if he had actually managed to get Sasuke back in his injured state.

Something rustled in the trees over at the far end of the clearing and Naruto tensed, giving Yumi time to give him another gaping wound, this time running down his leg. The rustling stopped and Yumi turned to face the open expanse, waiting for the newcomer to reveal themselves. She already knew that whoever it was would be from the Leaf, since if it had been one of the Sound ninja they would have ignored her and gone on ahead. A figure in a dark green full body suit landed heavily on the grass near the edge and she frowned.

"Bushy eyebrows!" She cried out randomly, since that was the only thing about the newcomer that she could focus on. In her moment of distraction Naruto tried to escape, but was quickly impeded by the enormous snake blocking the way.

"Damn it!" He cried in frustration. Making a series of hand signs he performed the shadow clone jutsu as Yumi watched curiously, wondering what he was going to do. His clones surrounded the snake and the one she could only assume was the original yelled "Naruto Uzumaki barrage!" Yumi rolled her eyes, thinking that he was just being stupid. To her utter shock he actually managed to give the snake a good beating. He disappeared along with all of Naruto's shadow clones, leaving the path free for him to escape.

"Don't you dare!" She yelled at him, flinging another shuriken his way. It lodged itself into his back just above the gash as he ran into the forest. "Come back here!" She shouted, going to chase after him until she was interrupted by the bushy brows in the green jumpsuit.

"Now you have to fight me." Yumi glared at him, wondering if he was serious. She remembered seeing him at the hospital once when she was there, and he had been severely injured. Obviously that old lady Tsunade had been awfully low on ninja to be sending an injured man after her.

"Like hell I will. I have better things to be doing than fighting an injured person." He gave her an odd look and she shoved past him, only to have him grab her arm and stop her in her tracks.

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><p><strong>AN: Two chapter updates in 24 hours. I hope that makes up for me not updating in ages. It probably doesn't though.**

**Lots of cookies to Z.C.A for reviewing the chapters, and some to Sammy too for her random as anon reviews.**

**Please Read and Review, I need encouragement from people I don't know as well as my classmates**


	10. Timewasting Fights

**A/N: So this chapter is sort of all over the place. I figured I would just follow the regular plot line as to HOW he got to Orochimaru, but after this chapter it's going to be all random stuff with only some random plot pieces from the original story line. Enjoy :)**

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><p>Yumi stared blankly down at the hand wrapped around her left arm. She knew what was happening, but she couldn't understand why. Why on earth would an injured boy want to fight her so badly, especially in her current state? But then again he probably didn't know anything about curse marks. Ignorance is bliss, as some people say.<p>

"Let me go." She demanded coldly. Surprisingly he actually complied, only to take up a fighting stance in front of her. "Seriously?" This bushy brow guy was getting on her nerves. The only consolation she had was that she had managed to injure Naruto quite a bit before he slipped away. Hopefully that would be enough to slow him down until she could go after him.

"I'm not letting you go anywhere until you beat me." He moved into an offensive position in front of her and she stared at him incredulously. He was absolutely serious, AND he was planning on using taijutsu to fight her, when he was injured and she could easily use ninjutsu or even genjutsu if she had the patience or need for it.

"Look here boy." She rambled, attempting to get her hair to lie flat. "I don't have time to waste messing around here with the likes of you." The guy wasn't taking no for an answer, and he launched a roundhouse kick at her head. Jumping back out of the way she flipped over the now empty coffin and used it as a shield as she scrambled to put her thoughts in order. There was going to be no easy way to get around fighting the new boy, and she didn't even know his name so that she could taunt him.

He launched into another bought of attacks and she picked up the coffin so that she could move around while still being shielded. She had no real desire to fight back, and she was just wasting time and energy with him.

"Fight me seriously!" He demanded, kicking the coffin out of her hands. She jumped back from his next kick, catching the following punch in one hand, cringing slightly at the impact that travelled up her arm.

"I can't even take you seriously with those massive eyebrows." He frowned, and she lashed out with an attack of her own. Snakes shot out of her sleeve and wrapped themselves around the boy, trapping him. She picked up one of the kunai she had dropped when she opted for defence instead of offence and held it near his throat, a thoughtful expression on her dull grey face.

"So, how do you like my Senei Jyashu jutsu? Anyway, what's your name? I'm going to need it so that I can decorate your grave marker." Yumi wasn't seriously planning on killing him, but there was nothing wrong with a good threat. All she wanted was to incapacitate him so he wouldn't stop her from leaving.

"Lee. Rock Lee." She stifled a laugh at his name. _Seriously? His name is Rock? I think I'll just call him Lee instead…_ Yumi stiffened as she felt a presence heading their way, but relaxed again when she pinpointed its location. The figure was heading toward them from the base, so it was reinforcements. _Kabuto? No way, why would he bother coming back._ She didn't have a clue who it could be, but she stepped back from Lee, keeping her back to the area of forest they were approaching from.

"Well then Lee, it looks like I'm going to have to go now. It was a pleasure meeting you, and maybe one day we can fight while you're not injured." Lee was struggling against the snakes, but then a pair of feet hit the ground behind Yumi. She spun around to find out who had come to her aid, gasping in shock when she saw who it was.

"Kimimaru! But, I thought you were injured! What happened? Why are you here?" Yumi had spent days upon days sitting next his bed in the hospital area that Kabuto had set up for him. He had seemed so lonely, and she had had nothing better to do. Eventually it had just become a habit for her to visit him at least once a week.

"Lady Yumi, I have missed hearing your voice over the last few weeks." Yumi blushed, but you couldn't tell because of her grey complexion. "It is time for me to fight once more. You should hurry, leave this boy to me. Lord Orochimaru is waiting for your return." _Yeah right,_ she thought to herself, biting her lip. _He's waiting for Sasuke freaking Uchiha, not for me._ But that was exactly why she had to hurry, to make sure that Sasuke made it to the base in time. She gave Kimimaru a quick hug before she turned and left, because she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that it would be the last time she would ever see him.

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><p>Sasuke watched in a mixture of boredom and excitement as Naruto approached him. He had originally been content with following Yumi's instructions and going straight to Orochimaru, but this was a distraction he couldn't very well just walk away from. There were rips and tears in the other boy's orange jacket, and as he turned around Sasuke saw the massive gash across his back. He had already been in a fight, a serious one by the looks of it, and he was momentarily jealous of Yumi for fighting him when he was at full strength. It wouldn't be nearly as satisfying for him to beat Naruto when the other boy was already weakened and injured.<p>

Naruto was clenching the blood stained kunai he had pulled from his back in his fist as he stared across the river at Sasuke. It had been a stroke of bad luck to get hit while he was running away; he should have been paying more attention. Now though, as he watched his own blood dripping off the tip, he wondered if it was somehow an omen. Maybe it meant that if he used that kunai he would be able to get Sasuke to come back to his senses and return with him. After that all he needed to do was find Yumi and get her to come back with them as well.

His eyebrows knit together in a frown as his mind drifted back to the strange grey skinned girl he had been fighting, then one who had injured him so badly. The gash across his back twinged and he grabbed his wounded shoulder, dragging his thoughts back to the matter at hand. He didn't have the time to be dwelling on mysterious strangers, not when Sasuke was right in front of him.

Flipping the kunai around in his hand he steadied himself and stepped out onto the river, eyes focused solely on the dark-blue haired boy on the other side of the river.

"Sasuke!" His voice echoed a hundred-fold across the empty expanse surrounding the river. Sasuke turned to watch the other boy in his slow approach. Half of Sasuke's face was covered with black from his curse mark which he still didn't understand how to control. As he activated his sharingan he was shocked to feel the pulse of extra energy. Somehow his sharingan had become more powerful than the last time he had used it.

Naruto sprinted across the river, weaving and dodging to try and avoid any attack Sasuke might throw at him, but the other boy was merely standing there, watching him. As Naruto brought his eyes up to Sasuke's some part at the back of his mind registered that there was now three black swirls in his sharingan. He was too absorbed in his overall focus to actually process any of the possible consequences of that particular change in his friend's skill, and even if he had the time or put in the effort it still wouldn't mean anything to him.

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><p>Yumi flinched as she barely avoided running straight into a tree, managing to get away with only a small graze on her left check. She wiped the blood off her check with her thumb and looked at it for a moment. If she hadn't known it was going to happen she wouldn't even have noticed that she got cut. Her upbringing had trained her well, and she was extremely resistant to pain on the lower levels. Scrubbing the blood off of her grey fingers she stared ahead into the trees that lined the path she knew she had to take, wondering vaguely how many more trees she was going to run into while she was distracted.<p>

"Shit!" She cursed under her breath as her arm smacked into a branch she hadn't noticed, causing her to drop the three shuriken she had been holding in that hand. Jumping to the ground she quickly gathered them back up and leapt high, landing in a different tree.

"Oh shit, I'm swearing again." Yumi had a bit of a tendency to swear excessively when she was stressed or under pressure. It would appear that she might just have to start up a swear jar if it kept up.

Ditching the trees for the more convenient, open areas of the dirt covered ground below them she ran as fast as she could, dodging around tree trunks and jumping over rocks that popped up in her path. She was pushing the speed limits of her stage one curse mark release, but she had no desire to go into stage two in case it wore off before they got back to the base, leaving her exhausted and vulnerable for Leaf reinforcements to pick up when they rounded up all the genin they had sent after her.

Yumi froze suddenly, discoloured palm resting against a tree trunk as she tried to process what was going on. She was definitely getting pretty close to wherever the two of them had gotten off to, but something strange was going on over there. There had just been a massive energy flux from the both of them. A larger spike of energy than she would have expected from a simple stage one release. The only explanation she could come up with was that Sasuke had managed to activate stage two.

"Crap. If he wears himself out and I have to drag him to base I swear I'm going to kick his ass into next week…" Naruto though, his distinct energy signature had just become even more powerful, and it was again different.

Fear flashed through her as she realised that the kyuubi must be trying to come out, to take over. It wasn't something she had wanted to experience first-hand, but she knew she had to get there soon and put an end to their childish, time-wasting quarrel.

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><p>Breaking out of the cover of the trees Yumi found herself at the edge of a river. At the far end of the river, near the waterfall, Naruto and Sasuke appeared to be having some sort of Rasengan – Chidori off. It was probably supposed to be some epic battle, and it was. Naruto was radiating a sickly orange chakra and Sasuke was definitely in stage two, but it was incomplete. He had wings – ones that looked like hands – and he was flying. If the situation hadn't been dire she would have been jealous.<p>

Running across the river she had to cover her eyes as the two attacks collided, causing a massive flash of bright light. When she opened her eyes again the two of them were collapsed on the river bank. Sasuke was the first to recover, climbing to his knees with his release failing. His headband fell off as he stared down at Naruto's unconscious body. She knew he was unconscious because she could still sense the dreadful kyuubi chakra leaking from his body.

Sasuke didn't seem to be in any mood to move soon, which was made apparent the closer she got. He was being stubborn, and she wondered if he regretted being so forceful on the nine-tails host. Yumi had no patience to waste on his stubbornness or feelings of regret, so she marched over to him and kicked him in the leg.

"Come on Sasuke, leave him be, we have to go. Now!" Yumi grabbed his wrist and dragged the older boy behind her until he snapped out of his daze and ran beside her. They had to hurry, they had wasted far too much time.

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><p>She ran through the winding hallways to where she knew her father would be waiting, Sasuke following behind her since he had no idea where to go. Stopping in front of a seemingly plain door she pushed it open, revealing a bandaged man sitting in a throne like chair. At the sound of the door opening he turned to them.<p>

"Sasuke Uchiha, I've been waiting for you." Yumi wasn't entirely sure it was her father until she heard him speak, and then she knew that they had arrived too late. His voiced was laced with barely concealed anger and disappointment, and he had had to make do with one of the spare bodies they had kept laying around the base.

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><p><strong>AN: Senei Jyashu = Sublime Snake Hand**


	11. Uninvited Guests

**Random disclaimer: If you hadn't already realised, I don't own Naruto, but I take full credit for my OC Yumi, so you can't have her! (unless you ask of course :P) This chapter is… random, so don't ask. Also, Sasuke is a bit OOC in this chapter, but that may become a recurring theme in the rest of the story, so don't hate on me because of it.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11 - Uninvited Guests<strong>

_Three Years Later_

Yumi sat down on the edge of her bed, cold blue eyes staring at her few possessions across the room. It had been several years since her time in the Leaf and she had yet to gather any more worldly possessions. All she had was a vast collection of kunai, shuriken and other weapons, along with a few plain outfits. They were plain because she had to figure out how to make them herself, because her father and Kabuto weren't exactly going to make them for her. Sasuke was no different.

Sighing in frustration she shuffled back until her back was against the cold wall. She was supposed to train with the fifteen year old boy later that day, and she really couldn't be bothered. If it was any other day she wouldn't have cared. She had only just made it back to their current base three days ago and she was still recovering from their encounter with the Leaf ninja.

_Flashback:_

_Kabuto was going to meet with a member of the Akatsuki for an information exchange. The Akatsuki member thought that Kabuto was betraying Orochimaru in order to supply him with information. He was wrong._

_Since Yumi hadn't been on any missions recently Kabuto had agreed to let her come with him, as long as she remained hidden, because it would put the Akatsuki guy on edge if he noticed she was there. She had been more than happy to oblige, accepting her limitations, because her father was also tagging along on this particular meeting._

_She sat up in the leafy branches at the top of a tree near the bridge, peering through the green. Her hair was tied back in a bun since she was being extra careful to keep her presence hidden on this mission. She had an advantage, she could see them but they couldn't see her. And by them she didn't mean Kabuto and the Akatsuki guy, she meant the ninja hidden in the bushes on the other side of the bridge._

_Sasori of the red sands. He was the member of the Akatsuki they had been sent to meet. Yumi watched him cross the bridge. There was something off about him, although she couldn't figure out what it was._

_As Kabuto approached Sasori Yumi noticed the figures behind the bushes moving around. One of them had the distinct presence of the kyuubi, meaning that it was Naruto and most likely that pink-haired Sakura chick from the Leaf. She didn't have a clue who the third person was, since their third had originally been Sasuke and all the other genin had their own teams. They had to be new, or from somewhere else. There was of course the distinct possibility that someone from another team had been assigned to them for their current mission, but it didn't feel like anyone that Yumi knew._

_Making a slightly bigger gap in the leaves she tried to get an actual look over at their hiding place, but it was a futile attempt. If she moved too much she would reveal her presence, and that would ruin the plan they had come up with in order to uncover the true identity of Sasori of the red sand. She also knew her silence was an absolute necessity, since Kabuto had been pretty resigned about letting her come along; only agreeing after some extreme persuasion on her behalf._

_Damn it, she was nearly fourteen! She could handle herself, they just didn't trust her. Yumi's hand slipped, rustling the green foliage around her, and she cringed, training her gaze on the bridge. Luckily it didn't seem like anyone had noticed her, at least it didn't seem like Sasori had noticed her anyway. Kabuto had probably heard her, and he was probably going to be pissed off once they got back to base._

_Present Time:_

To cut a long story short, they fought, and it turned out that Sasori hadn't even been Sasori of the red sands at all. It had instead been one of the Anbu from the Leaf.

Yumi balled her hands into fists and punched the wall behind her back, grazing her knuckles. That Anbu man, the fact that he was from the Anbu was one thing that annoyed her, but the worst part was that it hadn't been Kakashi. She would have paid good money to have seen the expression on Kakashi's face if he had seen her with Kabuto and Orochimaru. Then again he might not have been surprised at all, since he was obviously intelligent enough to be a part of the Anbu black ops.

She scowled down at her hands as she let them fall uselessly into her lap. It had been Naruto and Sakura alright, but their third had been a strange one. Ink creatures that had attacked her, distracting her while the others tried to sneak up on her. But she wasn't thick enough to fall for something like that.

All in all though, she had barely had a chance to fight any of her old acquaintances, having quickly been drawn into retreat because of the kyuubi breaking free of its container. Before that day she hadn't been out on a single mission in over two months, so she had been really keen to have some fun, but instead it turned into a disaster. That kid with the Ninja Beast Scroll technique was getting on her nerves and plaguing her thoughts. He just wasn't normal; she could tell that just from their brief encounter.

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><p>Footsteps pounded along the hallway nearing her room, snapping her out of her daze as her bedroom door was thrust open, revealing a slightly frazzled-looking Kabuto. Something must be up for his composure to have slipped even a tiny bit. Yumi pushed herself to the edge of her bed and gazed up at the older man as though she were trying to read his thoughts. While she did have some rather unusual skills, such as the uncanny ability she had to sense presences and chakra without having a Byakugan, mind-reading wasn't in her repertoire. Not yet anyway, you could never really tell for certain what was going to pop up next.<p>

"There's an intruder." He informed her, leaning slightly against the door frame as he took a few slow breaths. "You have to go and intercept them, slow them down, dispose of them, whatever you want. I have to go and find Sasuke and make sure he stays put in one place this time."

"I understand. I'll be right on it." Climbing to her feet slowly in frustration she gathered a few extra weapons, sighing in annoyance as Kabuto watched her. The fact that he was still there made her want to take her own sweet time with getting ready. Grabbing a purple ribbon she tied her waist length black hair up into a high pony-tail, adjusting her headband before she turned back to face the glasses-wearing medical ninja.

"Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" She asked him casually, a hint of irritation slipping through into her voice. Kabuto flinched, blinking once in shock as he processed what she had just said.

"Oh shit!" He spun on his heel and ran off down the corridor towards Sasuke's room. Yumi rolled her eyes before walking slowly out into the twisting underground corridor. If she hadn't spent her whole life living underground she would have been struck by a rather depressed feeling, or perhaps she would have even developed an irrational fear of the whole base collapsing in top of her while she slept. Luckily she wasn't cursed with such an irrational way of thinking.

Turning in the direction the Kabuto had come from she started walking slowly and boredly down the corridor, spinning a kunai around in her hand as she hummed a tune. Today just wasn't her day. The person who was stupid enough to break into her father's base just had to pick TODAY of all days to commit their outrageous act of stupidity. Not that she could blame them. Forbidden places were always the ones most tempting to explore.

Everyone was dead and gone, so their defences were rather lacking. It was down to Sasuke, Kabuto and herself; although on a whole her father didn't want Sasuke getting involved with intruders, so it was really just Kabuto and her. Shaking her head she trained her eyes on the floor in front of her, banishing her complaints to the back of her mind.

Since she had no idea where the intruder actually was, and she couldn't really be bothered trying to find them, she let her feet guide her to the main hall. If they had invaded the base with a purpose that was where they would eventually end up anyway, so she felt she might as well just go and wait for them. It would save her energy when it came to any possible fights.

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><p>When she entered the main hall she ignored her father, just as he ignored her. Glancing around she picked a position near the door. With one eye watching the door she held her kunai in her teeth to free up her hands while she dug around in her weapons pouch. Sighing again around the kunai she pulled out five shuriken and positioned them in one hand. If she was quick enough she might be able to trap them against the door when they stepped inside. IF she was paying enough attention. But her mind continued to wander, anger filling her thoughts as she pouted, taking her kunai out of her mouth and gripping it in her other hand.<p>

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><p>Footsteps sounded just outside of the room, coming closer at a rather cautious rate, confirming that it was indeed the intruder and they were most likely now lost. The door creaked and Yumi spun, focusing intently on the main door at the end of the hall, watching as it slowly swung open. A figure quickly darted inside, ruining Yumi's first chance of attack – pinning them to the door with her shuriken – and making her angrier than she already was.<p>

The intruder appeared to be a woman, in her mid to late thirties, with long blonde hair and blue eyes that were a perfect match to Yumi's own. Stiffening Yumi bent her arm back before throwing a barrage of shuriken at the woman, who somehow – and to everyone's surprise – managed to dodge all but one of them, the one she hadn't been able to dodge tearing her sleeve and leaving a thin cut along her left forearm.

Ignoring her now bleeding arm the blonde woman advanced towards Yumi, who had taken up a defensive position between the woman and the throne-like chair where her father sat. The woman's eyes flicked between Yumi and Orochimaru, their blue depths showing some uncalled for sense of hatred when they rested on the pale, snake-like man.

"Saya, what are you doing here?" Orochimaru climbed to his feet, the threatening undertone of his voice amplified a hundred-fold when it echoed through the immense underground expanse of the room. Yumi glanced back over her shoulder, backing up against a column so that she could see her father AND the new woman at the same time. Apparently he knew her, which was suspicious, since they didn't often associate with people outside the Sound village.

"You're making her fight today of all days? What is wrong with you?" The woman – apparently Saya – spoke with an angry tone, her eyes flashing in cold hatred. Yumi looked at her curiously, eyes widening the tiniest bit as she processed what Saya was saying.

"That is none of your business Saya. It stopped being your business 13 years ago." Yumi frowned again, eyes emotionless, hiding her feelings as she listened to the strange conversation between her father and them mysterious woman Saya.

"It will always be my business Orochimaru. She is my daughter!" Yumi's heart skipped a beat at the strange proclamation, and light, almost inaudible footsteps came up behind her.

"Having fun in here without me?" She didn't bother to turn around, she knew who it was standing on the other side of the column. Since she felt no immediate need to actually pay attention to what was happening in regards to her father she slid down to the wooden floor, back still leaning against the column.

"Yeah Sasuke, I'm just having a ball in here." At first she had hated the older boy, the ex-Leaf ninja, but as time passed and she was forced to spend more time with him training he slowly began to grow on her. Although she would never admit it, she had actually developed a bit of a crush on the Uchiha.

"Wait, didn't Kabuto tell you to stay in your room?" She asked, turning her head until she could see him. Sasuke walked around and leaned against the curved wall beside her, one foot against the column.

"Nope, that doesn't ring any bells." Yumi rolled her eyes up at him. Kabuto would still be chasing him down if he hadn't managed to tell Sasuke his message.

"Sure sure. So what you really mean is that you ignored him?" It didn't surprise her in the least. He didn't really like being ordered around.

"Maybe. Or maybe I just-"

"Saya get out of here! I told you before, that you were forbidden to come looking for her." Sasuke glanced over at the quarrel, as though he had only just realised what was going on.

"So… He seems pretty pissed off." Sasuke commented, peering down at Yumi as she flipped her kunai around and aimed it at the wooden floor.

"Well can you blame him? I'd be mad too if some weird woman marched into my house and demanded to see me daughter." She replied easily, not even looking up. Sasuke had never completely believed the whole father-daughter relationship between Yumi and Orochimaru, but this seemed like some pretty solid proof.

"So she's your mother then?" Yumi let her shoulders rise and fall before beginning to carve something into the polished floor beside her.

"Hell if I know." Digging her kunai into the wood she carefully carved a little message to herself. _Happy 14__th__ Birthday. Another birthday forgotten and ignored._ She had developed a habit of carving birthday messages to herself on her bedroom walls ever since she had come back from the Leaf. Before then she had never really cared about her birthday, or whether anyone remembered, but seeing everything she had seen in the Leaf had put a spin on her way of thinking. She was still one hundred percent loyal to her father, but it made her a little bit sad every year when her birthday went by unacknowledged.

"Yumi listen, I brought you a birthday present!" Yumi had been about to leave, but when Saya directed her next comment to her she froze. The woman knew it was her birthday today, when her own father had completely forgotten. Maybe she really was her mother? Suddenly she blinked, a memory rushing back to her. _She's that lady I insulted in the hidden Mist village…_

"Umm…" It wasn't exactly what she had been expecting the blonde to say, indeed, she never would have expected it in a hundred years. Sasuke nudged her in the back and she almost threw her kunai at him before remembering who it was. Today was turning out to be even worse than she had originally imagined. Everyone forgetting was one thing, but someone turning up out of the blue and pissing off her father was something else altogether.

"It's your birthday?" Sasuke asked suddenly, a tiny hint of curiosity in his voice. This time Yumi ignored him, taking another step towards the door.

"Yumi please, don't go." Saya called desperately, trying to get her fourteen year old daughter to stick around long enough to have a little talk. Yumi stared at the floor with sad blue eyes, clenching her kunai tightly in her fist down by her side.

"No… I… I'm going to go outside for a bit." Steeling herself she took a deep breath before sprinting out into the hallway, down the twists and turns, and out into the sunlight.

"Soo…" Sasuke wasn't sure he wanted to stick around with the two bickering adults, not when Orochimaru was as angry as he was. It was apparent to him that this Saya woman wasn't supposed to come around. Knowing that Kabuto would probably yell at him if he caught Sasuke wandering around the corridors when he had told him to stay put, Sasuke decided in a split second decision to follow after Yumi. Even if she was going to have an emotional breakdown it was still going to be safer than staying in the base.

When Sasuke made it outside it took him a little while to actually find Yumi. She had plunged her kunai into the dirt at the bottom of one of the largest trees near the entrance to the base. Looking up he found her sitting up at the top of said tree, staring out into the distance through the leaves with her signature cold emotionless gaze. He sat down on the grass next to her kunai and leaned back against the rough bark of the massive tree.

"What do you want Sasuke?" She called down, voice showing a hint of strain as she tried to refrain from an actual breakdown.

"Fresh air, same as you." He closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the sun for a moment, since it had been rather a while since he had last gone up to the surface. Kabuto and Orochimaru frowned upon him leaving the base too much, in case someone discovered him and tried once more to get him back. He was getting rather sick of it, and he had no idea when they would let up on him.

"Whatever." She mumbled half-heartedly, glancing down at the top of his head as he was sitting almost directly under the branch she was perched on.

They sat like that in silence for an unknown amount of time, long enough for the sun to drastically change its position in the sky. It wasn't an awkward silence though, it was a surprisingly comfortable silence, as the two teenagers sat outside, relishing in the fresh air and the silence, since once they went back into the base they knew they would almost definitely get yelled at. They went outside without permission, and that was definitely a bad move.

The silence was broken when Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at the tree-climbing girl.

"Happy birthday." Yumi blinked, not sure that she had heard him right. Closing her eyes she leaned back against the tree, knowing that she would probably never hear him say something like that again. Not unless he was in an absurdly good mood, and that was never likely to happen, not while that stupid older brother of his, Itachi Uchiha, was still alive and wandering around. She knew something about Itachi that Sasuke didn't know, but she decided she would wait until the next day to tell him about it. Her father wouldn't appreciate her egging him on, since it was only a distraction from what Orochimaru wanted him for.

"Thank you." She whispered after a minute or two.

* * *

><p>Time skip…<p>

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><p>Footsteps approached their tree, and when Sasuke didn't react Yumi opened her eyes and peered down to see who it was that dared to come near them. There was no yelling, so it wasn't Kabuto or her father. She tensed up when she saw the blonde woman Saya leaning against the tree beside Sasuke having a quiet conversation with him, although as far as she could tell Saya was doing all the talking.<p>

Yumi grit her teeth and forced out a frustrated breath, swinging her legs over the side of the branch and climbing down to a lower one, and then a lower one, until she was sitting not too far away from the top of Sasuke's head. Saya glanced over and was shocked to find Yumi so close to her, when she had run away earlier.

"What do you want?" Yumi mumbled irritably, avoiding eye contact with the older woman. Saya sighed, and turned so that she was facing Yumi, digging around in her bag for something. Yumi heard the rustling and peered at Saya out of the corner of her eye, wondering what she was doing. Inside she had claimed that she had a present for her, but that seemed a bit far-fetched to Yumi.

"This is for you." Saya said finally, holding out a small cloth bag for Yumi to take. The young black haired girl stared curiously at the bag before finally accepting it, holding it in the palm of her knife hand as she inspected the dark blue cloth.

Mentally shrugging she pulled on the strings holding the bag closed she carefully opened the cloth bag. Upending it into her hand she gasped at the contents. Lying in her hand was a pendant. She had never been one for jewellery, but it was rather striking. The pendant was on a black cord; long enough to easily loop over her head and hide it under her clothes. The pendant itself looked to be some sort of crystal or other gemstone. It was a downwards spiral, a deep blue colour with a vein of black running down the centre.

"Wow, I…" Yumi looped it over her head and pulled her hair free of the cord, resting the spiral on her palm and gazing at it. It was gorgeous, and just by looking at it she could tell it was probably worth a lot.

"It belonged to my mother, and I decided you should have it. Think of it as atonement for the last 13 of your birthdays I've missed." Saya smiled at Yumi's awestruck expression and took a step back.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to have this?" Yumi was vaguely surprised at how quiet Sasuke was being, but at least she didn't have to beat him up for making any snide comments.

"Don't worry about it, it's meant to be yours anyway." A faint smile appeared on Yumi's face, and before she knew what she was doing she had jumped out of the tree and given the older woman a quick hug.

More footsteps sounded, coming closer to the tree, and Yumi quickly stepped back, sitting down on the ground next to Sasuke. Saya looked around quickly, gave the two teenagers an apologetic smile, and ran off into the woods in the opposite direction as the approaching footsteps. Sasuke pulled the kunai out of the ground and handed it back to Yumi, who was tucking her new pendant under her shirt.

"Sasuke, Yumi, you have to get back inside!" Yumi climbed to her feet, rolling her eyes at Kabuto's feeble attempt to find them. She held her kunai free hand out to Sasuke to help him up.

"Looks like our little field trip is over now." As the two of them wandered back to the entrance of the base Yumi had a stupid smile on her face that she just couldn't get rid of. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad birthday after all.

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><p><strong>AN: WOW that was long :P So, three years later, Yumi's 14, she made up with her mother, and she has a pretty new necklace. Relevance? Barely any, but that's not the point. I have some brainstorming to do in order for the next chapters to actually have some sort of structure to them…**

**Please like my facebook page :) https:/www (dot) facebook (dot) com/pages/Dark-Akuma-Hunter/217425914990765 replace (dot)'s with .**

**Umm... I think this story is going to have to go on hiatus for awhile until I can sort out a storyline. I don't want to bulk it up with awful irrelevant stuff, so I'm going to put some real thought into it then come back to it later. Please don't kill me (cowers behind rock - no, not Rock Lee, a rock)**


	12. Anger and unwanted feelings

**Me: Hey everyone, it's a new chapter!**

**Sasuke: … it took too long.**

**Me: Hey, shut up! You weren't exactly helping!**

**Sasuke: …**

**Yumi: Aren't you forgetting something?**

**Me: No way!**

**Yumi: *rolls eyes* Dark Akuma Hunter does not own Naruto, and chances are she never will, otherwise she wouldn't need to write fan fictions about it.**

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><p>Chapter 12:<p>

Yumi lay on the cold wooden floor in her bedroom, staring up at the scratched wooden ceiling. Her face was tingling, and she knew that she was definitely going to get a black eye. Her father had been more than a little bit mad when she had returned to the base yesterday. He'd gotten even angrier when he caught a glimpse of the pendant she had received from Saya.

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><p>Flashback:<p>

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><p>"You were outside for quite a long time; did you happen to see that woman while you were out there?" There was no obvious anger in Orochimaru's voice, but he was mad. Yumi knelt in front of his chair, not sure what to do. In the end she opted to stay silent, which was usually a fool proof plan when it came to dealing with her father. Unfortunately for her, today was the day her plans came crashing down around her ears.<p>

Her silence spoke a thousand words, or at least it did in this situation. With one hand on the floor beside her and one hand on her knee she stared straight ahead, concentrating on the wall behind Orochimaru's head.

"What did she say to you?" He demanded, voice a threatening whisper. Yumi twitched, the hand that was gripping her knee tightening until her nails were digging through the cloth of her pants. She bowed her head down submissively.

"She probably said a great deal of things, but I was not listening." Her eyes widened in shock as she saw that her movement had dislodged the pendant from where it had been hidden away in the folds of her shirt. There were several footsteps before a hand grabbed her chin, forcing her head up. Yumi stared blankly at Orochimaru as he glared down at her. His eyes latched onto the pendant around her neck and his anger spiked. He lashed out, punching Yumi in the face. She didn't flinch, taking the hit and dropping her gaze back to the floor. If people pissed him off they would get beaten up, except for mister mightier-than-thou Kabuto, who seemed to have some sort of immunity to punishment like that.

"You should know better than to lie to me." He whispered menacingly in her ear before backhanding her. Yumi stiffened, glaring up at her father. She saw that his gaze was still locked onto her pendant. The pale man lashed out again, this time aiming for Yumi's pendant, but she dodged it, not willing to relinquish the one thing that she had received from her mother.

He narrowed his eyes in frustration before lashing out once more. Yumi reached up, blocking his punch and launching an attack of her own. She had sparred with her father plenty of times when she was younger, but never when he was mad. It seemed to be making him more powerful yet clumsier at the same time. Her foot collided with his knee and she pushed herself back, out of his reach.

"You need to calm down." She pointed out boldly before making a break for it, running from the room.

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><p>Present:<p>

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><p>Yumi kicked the door shut from where she lay on the floor, having forgotten about it until then due to being lost in thought. She wrapped one hand around the spiral shaped pendant, wondering why she was so attached to it.<p>

"I'm getting weak and soft." She muttered to herself. Four years ago nothing would have mattered to her, but then she had gone to the Leaf. Yumi knew with absolute certainty that it was there that her resolve had begun to crack. Now it was slowly falling to pieces. She was getting sentimental.

"This is just my luck really." The young ninja mumbled, carefully poking her cheek to test for swelling. She didn't want to be wandering around with a black eye, so it looked like she would be confining herself to her room until it disappeared.

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><p><strong>-Time Skip-<strong>

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><p>The week passed slowly for Yumi, as she made an extra effort to avoid being in the presence of her father. She hadn't spent enough time around him since she got her black eye to gather whether or not he had actually calmed down, and she had no real intention of trying to find out. All she cared about at the moment was keeping out of sight.<p>

The black eye was driving her nuts, and she had taken to wearing her hair down in an attempt to cover it up as best she could, but she knew it wasn't doing anything for her. She had spent 5 days sitting in her room, barely leaving to eat. Her mind was too busy dwelling on thoughts she would rather not be having, thoughts about her feelings and people. Feelings were a luxury that she hadn't been allowed, was still not allowed, since she was a ninja for a village that held malicious intents.

Pushing her hair out of her eyes she stared up at her bedroom wall, taking out a brush and some ink. On her third day of solitary thinking she had decided if she kept it all bottled up inside then she would explode, but she couldn't talk to anyone about it, so her only option left to her was to vent her frustration by writing, or in this case drawing confusing symbols on her bedroom walls.

Since no-one ever came in her room she knew that it wouldn't matter what she wrote or drew, because no-one would see it apart from her. Most of what she had drawn so far was angry shapes on the far wall as she tried to revert to her previous emotionless state of being. Unfortunately that hadn't helped at all, it had only deemed to confuse her and anger her further.

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><p>On her fifth day of solitude her eye was healing nicely, but she was no longer concerned about it. She was too absorbed in trying to work out how to deal with the emotions that she had gone without for most of her life. Standing up on her bed she picked up the brush and started drawing. She drew the symbol for the Leaf village three quarters of the way up the wall above her bed. It was the cause of her frustration and confusion, and she drew multitudes of arrows coming away from it.<p>

On the sixth day she was back to lying on the floor, completely exhausted and nearing the edge of her rope. Yumi almost felt as though she were going to be driven insane if she couldn't figure out a way to control her emotions.

"These feelings are beneath me! I'm better than this!" She shouted at her ceiling as someone walked by outside her room. Her door swung open to reveal Sasuke leaning against her doorframe.

"What feelings?" He asked, feigning curiosity. She was the only person near enough to his age for him to bother attempting to spend any time with, and she hadn't been out of her room for nearly a week, so he had been forced to train with Kabuto instead.

"Friendship, bonds, attachment." Yumi pushed herself up into a sitting position on the floor, blowing a strand of hair out of her face in irritation. "Worthless, useless emotions." Sasuke nodded boredly, going along with her rant since he had nothing better to do. "Standing there won't make me train with you." Yumi pointed out suddenly, surprising the young Uchiha. He rolled his eyes and made an annoyed sound before storming off.

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><p><strong>-2 days later-<strong>

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><p>Yumi had finally had enough sulking, and she was starting to feel claustrophobic. She honestly wondered whether she would ever want to go back into her room again. Apparently Kabuto had been sent on a mission, but he had come back 3 days ago. She wasn't interested in where he had gone or what he had done, since it didn't concern her.<p>

It was early in the morning as she got up, dressing in civilian clothes. Yumi needed a break, she needed to get outside for a time, and the safest way to do that was going incognito. She brushed her hair out and lifted her hood before slipping out of the base. It wasn't all that difficult to avoid being seen on her way out, since the base was highly unpopulated. Resting a hand against one of the trees she looked back at the entrance to the base, shaking her head irritably before disappearing into the trees.

"Okay now I just feel stupid." Yumi muttered to herself as she sat at the base of a tree. She had been travelling for half a day and had only then remembered how far away the nearest village was. If she went all the way there then she would be gone long enough for her absence to be noticed. Sighing in frustration she dug an apple out of the pocket of her cloak, taking a bite as she pondered what to do next.

She heard footsteps approaching her location, but she ignored them, taking another bite of her apple as she waited for them to pass her by. Yumi stretched her legs out in front of her as she brushed her long black hair out of her eyes, only to have someone clumsily trip over them. Startled she dropped her half-eaten apple to the ground as she jumped to her feet, pendant knocking against her chest from the motion.

The other members of the new group stopped and waited as their comrade climbed slowly to his feet. The group bore no symbols of any of the hidden villages, and their carefree nature seemed sincere, signifying to Yumi that they posed no threat to her. Relaxing she let her arms fall to her sides and stepped back to lean against a tree as the men sorted themselves out. Normally she wasn't one to fuss over minor, irrelevant details, but it was sort of her fault that the man had fallen. Straightening up she stared past the group and cleared her throat.

"Um… Sorry for tripping you up." The group turned to face her and she saw that the one she was apologising to was only about 18. He ran a hand through his hair, a sheepish look on his face, before holding a hand in front of his face and bowing slightly in apology. It shocked Yumi, who was only used to that sort of formality from people in the Sound that knew of her lineage.

"No it was my fault; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." It was as the boy was giving her his overly enthusiastic apology that she noticed the black mourning bands which they were all wearing. As Yumi studied the travellers one of the men, a blonde who appeared to be about 30, was watching her with a calculating gaze. She was a bit put off by the fact that they hadn't immediately started on their way again so, with a kunai concealed in her sleeve, she prepared to make the first move.

"Well I guess I'll be going now." She started, flashing a fake smile at the eighteen year old boy as she turned to leave. The sun broke through the leaves, sparkling off her pendant, and that's when their behaviour changed.

The blonde man pointed to her and called "Touma, don't let her leave!" As she heard his exclamation Yumi jumped back, away from the young man's – Touma's – reach, and held two kunai knives defensively in front of her body. Dropping into a fighting stance she shook the hood of her cloak off her head so that she could see with fewer obstacles.

"What do you want?" She asked menacingly, glaring at the group of men who were staring at her with looks of shock on their faces. The blonde was the first to recover, stepping forward with a look of calm confidence. Seeing as they weren't going to attack her she put one of the kunai in her mouth so that she could quickly move her hair out of the way with her free hand before straightening up, frowning.

"Calm down, we just want to talk." Taking the kunai from her mouth she put it away, letting the other knife hang at her side from her hand as she stood, staring and waiting.

"If I'm not interested in what you have to say then I'm leaving, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." She didn't bother adding that if they tried she would just beat them up. Touma stepped back and the blonde man seemed to relax, although she probably wasn't supposed to have noticed it since he was putting on such a calm, self-important act. He raised an arm and pointed at Yumi's chest, making her narrow her eyes in suspicion.

"My first question: Where did you get that pendant from?" Touma nodded his head in agreement, watching her expectantly as she fingered the cord around her neck, blue eyes guarded.

"I got it from my mother." She deemed that there was no harm in telling them that much, it was pretty vague after all. The men exchanged a series of looks, indulging in a silent conversation. Touma turned to face her, taking the initiative.

"What was your mother's name?" She tensed, watching them. Taking a slow breath she folded her arms across her chest, subtly pointing her kunai at Touma. She decided that she would hear them out, and if they seemed hostile when they were finished with their questioning then she could always dispose of them.

"She never introduced herself, but Oro- I mean my father referred to her as Saya." Touma's face visibly paled as he turned to the others, knowing something that she didn't.

"Yousuke?" Touma directed the simple question to the blonde man. His expression had darkened somewhat and he shook his head. He was far from the oldest member of the strange group, but he appeared to have some sort of superiority.

"This is stupid, I'm leaving." Yumi turned away, fully intending to leave the oddities behind and leave, but something made her stop dead in her tracks.

"Saya is dead." Yousuke called after her.

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><p><strong>AN: Look at that, I MADE the last chapter relevant :P There'll only be like one more chapter, so that I can finish it and not drag along with no ideas. Sorry if it was kinda rambly and angsty in places, I was stuck and started writing random stuff.**


	13. Decisions and Surprise Consequences

"Saya is dead." Those words circled around Yumi's mind, ringing in her ears, as she turned to look back over her shoulder at them. Touma was staring at the ground, eyes clouded over as he gripped the black mourning band around his bicep. She turned around completely and met Yousuke's eyes, seeing the seriousness in them.

"That can't be possible. I talked to her just over a week ago!" Her gaze flickered from person to person, but all she could see was well contained sadness, except in Touma, who looked like he was about to cry. She shoved the surprise from her expression, turning now emotionless eyes towards Yousuke, the apparent leader of the travellers.

"How would you know that anyway, unless you were the one who killed her?" His eye twitched at her accusation that she had so calmly thrown at him. He clenched and unclenched his fist several times as he scowled at Yumi.

"It wasn't him!" Touma cried out, grabbing her shoulder, which was a mistake as she quickly pinned him against a tree for touching her. He stared at her with pained, grief-stricken eyes, and she frowned, releasing him but not letting him move away or break eye contact.

"I take it that you wear the mourning bands for her?" Touma nodded, unnerved by Yumi's abnormal height as she could see eye to eye with him as he stood normally. Her cold blue eyes glazed over as she sank into thought deep within her mind. _If they really care, and are telling the truth, then who are they? Her followers? Surely Father wouldn't have wanted someone important as the mother of his child, because they would be missed and tracked down. It doesn't really make sense right now, I don't know enough about the situation._

"You don't seem to care all that much about your own mother's death." Yousuke pointed out, shocking her back to the present as she stepped away, completely freeing Touma. She blinked in confusion, tugging harshly on a strand of her hair before turning back around to them, ignoring the pain and confusion mixed through the men.

"Why should I care? I only met her once, and that was the week before last." Yumi put away her last remaining kunai as she stared at them, giving off her heartless aura which usually intimidated people. Inside she felt as though all her walls had finally shattered, but the years of training were at least allowing her to hide her emotions from the prying eyes of strangers.

"What if I told you I knew who killed her? Then would you care?" Yousuke demanded somewhat forcefully. Yumi frowned, shoving her hand in the pocket of her cloak and clutching the headband concealed there.

"Well who is it then? We'll see if I care." She tried to sound bored and uncaring, but her heart felt constricted in her chest. Touma was staring at her as though she had gone crazy, although her mood swings and bitchiness were probably good enough reasons to think that. Yousuke opened his mouth to say something, but stopped abruptly when one of the older men stepped forward.

"Child there are things you aren't telling us, but that is to be expected, as there are also things that we are not telling you."

"Old man Akihiko!" Touma cried out, shocked by the old man's sudden interest.

"We do not know any names," Akihiko continued patiently as though Touma hadn't opened his mouth. "But the man responsible wore glasses and a headband with a musical note on it." Yumi twitched, knocking her headband out of her pocket and onto the ground. Her mind was going down two paths at once. On one hand she was confused that Kabuto would let his guard down and be seen so easily; and on the other hand she was furious, since she now knew what his mission had been.

"Damnit Father, that was uncalled for." Akihiko, Touma, Yousuke and the rest of the group all watched as Yumi sat down on the grass, spinning the headband around in her hands.

"You know who did it? You know who killed Lady Furude?" Touma looked like he wanted to punch something as he spoke. _Lady Furude?_ She shook her head, it wasn't important. Stilling her hands she tied the headband and positioned it on her forehead before looking back up at them.

"Yes, he's a… colleague of mine." Akihiko nodded along, expression full of understanding.

"Yes I can see that. The question is, what will you do now?" Yumi blinked in confusion, the blank expression on her face showing that she didn't understand.

"If you want me to kill Kabuto, well, that's just not going to happen. Do you know how annoying it is to attempt to kill a medical ninja?" She pointed out, trying to guess what they wanted from her. Touma glared at her, clearly implying that he wanted Kabuto dead.

"Traitor." He spat at her. Akihiko sent him a sympathetic look as one of the other men reprimanded Touma.

"Relax child, I would not ask that of you." Yumi focused her attention on the older man, seeing as he was the most composed member of the group and he was the only one not yelling at her out of those who had spoken at all.

"Your mother was important to us. She got together a group of outcasts and taught them how to live and survive." For Yumi it didn't seem like a good enough reason for them to still band together in this odd group after the death of their leader.

"I still don't understand what you want from me." She reminded them, climbing to her feet and ignoring the angry glare Touma was sending her. She had no intention of provoking the young man into an unnecessary fight which she would almost certainly win.

"That pendant, Saya had it with her when I met her. Several years ago it broke in a fight that she was involved in after she was separated from the group. Looking at it you wouldn't believe it had ever been broken, but that's because I fixed it. I had known that it was important to her. The fact that she gave it to you must mean that she wanted us to acknowledge you." Yousuke continued from where Akihiko had left off. Yumi shifted her gaze and noted that everyone in the group – with the exception of Touma – was nodding in agreement to what Yousuke was saying.

"So what, you have proof that I'm related to her? Yay, let's all celebrate." She muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms. Yousuke's admittance really hadn't gotten them anywhere; it was just another fact that was pointless without extra explanation or reasoning to go with it. All it had added was that she was somehow welcome in the group, but why should anyone care about that?

"Seriously though," She continued, dropping the sarcasm, "that means nothing to me. It's not like I don't have a place to go back to, although admittedly I would rather stay away from Kabuto since I'll probably punch him the next time I see him."

"If that Kabuto guy killed Saya then there's no way you're any sort of match for him! You wouldn't be able to punch him if you wanted to." Touma interjected, causing Yumi to round on him, rolling up her sleeves.

"Do you want to bet on that? As I said before, Kabuto is a medical ninja, I however am a full-blown combat ninja. I'm far stronger than he is, there's no question about it." Touma shuddered and stepped away from her, no longer sure what to think of the girl who was stronger than a murderer.

"ANYWAY…" Yuosuke tried to get control over the situation once more as he could sense hostility increasing between the two youngest people present. "I guess what we're saying is that if by chance you didn't want to go back to wherever you are staying at the moment, then we wouldn't mind you tagging along with us. We would be moving around a lot, but you probably wouldn't mind that."

Yumi stepped back to lean against a tree, mulling things over in her mind. She was emotionally unstable at the moment, not really sure what to do with her feelings, which made her think that it was likely for her to choose to do something that she would regret later when she could better understand her emotions. Honestly she wanted to beat Kabuto to a pulp, but that would incur the wrath of her father, along with punishment that she would barely be able to withstand. The idea of being beaten within an inch of her life just for the pleasure of revenge on Kabuto was not a pleasant one. Maybe her life would be better off if she just ran away with the odd group of travellers that her mother had obviously cared about.

"If I did choose to come with you, are you sure that I would be completely welcome?" She asked, sending a sideways glance at Touma as if to voice the question about him and him alone. Akihiko stepped forward, placing a hand on Touma's shoulder and whispering something in his ear. His face curled into a frown and he opened his mouth to protest, but instead let out a long heavy sigh and reluctantly nodded his head.

"Yes, I'm sure there won't be any problems if you do decide to join us." Yumi fidgeted with her headband as she turned her options over in her head, trying to map out the best road to travel down. If she went back to the Sound village she would have to watch how she acted, and hold in her temper if she was ever going to survive there. If she went with the men then she would be classified as a missing nin, although chances were that her father wouldn't actually care if she didn't come back.

"I… I'm not sure just now. Meet me back here at nightfall tomorrow and I'll have some answers for you." She pulled a kunai out of her pocket and turned around; carving an upwards pointing arrow into the bark of the tree she had been leaning on. Akihiko nodded, his face plain yet open as he watched her turn to leave. Putting her kunai away she activated her curse mark, ignoring the shock from the men as her skin turned bluish-grey and her hair changed colour. Her nails lengthened and sharpened and she turned back to look over her shoulder at them, smiling at their discontent as they freaked out about her sudden change in appearance.

"I'll see you then, if you still want me that is." Shaking her head she ran off, quickly disappearing into the forest with the increased speed of level 2 activation, leaving the men behind to sort themselves out until she returned.

* * *

><p>-Several Hours Later-<p>

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><p>Reverting to her normal state Yumi pulled her hood up once more, stopping and waiting for several minutes to ensure that no-one was around before re-entering the base. Running away was one thing, Orochimaru probably wouldn't care, but if she gave away the location to the base then he would kill her. She was exhausted now, having been using the curse mark on and off for the last few hours in order to get back. It had really eaten away at her strength, and she was in dire need of rest.<p>

Slipping inside she ran silently through the corridors, avoiding the hallways that she sensed people in to ensure that her outfit wasn't question and her absence wasn't confirmed. Chances were that no one had checked her room, so if she got back without anyone seeing her then no one would be any the wiser to her little trip.

Yumi carefully closed her door behind her, breathing out a sigh of relief since she had managed to avoid detection on her way back. Taking her travelling cloak off she dropped it on the floor before collapsing on her bed, oblivious to her surroundings, and falling into a deep sleep, her exhaustion getting the better of her.

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><p>-The Next Day-<p>

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><p>It was late in the morning when a loud sharp knock on the door brought Yumi back to the world of the living. It was later than she had wanted to get up, but there was no helping it. Sitting up she yawned loudly, getting to her feet and walking over to the door to inquire as to why anyone would bother coming to see her.<p>

"Whadaya want?" She muttered sleepily as she opened the door, words slurring together as she attempted to break the hold sleep had over her.

"I want your help with a new jutsu I've been working on." It was more of a demand than a request, but she had become accustomed to Sasuke's way of asking for assistance.

"No." She shut the door in his face and locked it, stepping away from the wood and sitting on her bed. Scanning the room she quickly located her bag, and from there set about packing her things away. Her room had started to look like her room back in the Leaf, with things scattered everywhere in what was usually a spotless room.

It took longer than she would have liked to locate all of her weapons, since her vast collection – especially her paper bombs – had been scattered throughout the entire room, some even finding their way under the floorboards. And that was just the weapons. When she had finished collecting her various weapons she sat in the middle of her room on the floor, staring desperately around the small space, exasperated and confused as to how things had gotten so lost in her room.

It was then that her stomach grumbled loudly. She held one hand against her stomach and blushed in embarrassment, even though the room was empty. It was true that she hadn't eaten at all since the apple she had eaten almost 24 hours ago, so she couldn't really afford to skip out on eating now. Getting up she opened her bedroom door and went out in search of food.

Yumi didn't bother trying to go quietly this time, since she was merely wandering around the base and not sneaking out or in again. Finding herself in the 'kitchen', although it really wasn't much of one, she put together a quick sandwich. She took a bite of it and frowned. Apparently it had been longer than she had originally thought since they had last bought fresh food. Shrugging it off she left the kitchen, chewing on her sandwich as she wandered the halls heading back towards her room. As she approached the door to her room she finished the last bite of her sandwich, brushing the breadcrumbs off of her hands as she entered the room.

As Yumi stepped into the centre of her room the door slammed shut behind her. Her hand instinctively shot down to her leg pouch, pulling out a kunai and holding it firmly. Something moved in the corner of her eye and she spun, turning to face the door, but there was nothing there. Narrowing her eyes she turned back to face her bed, nearly dropping the knife in surprise when she saw Sasuke sitting on her bed.

"Damn it I already told you no, what do you want now?" Yumi demanded, putting the kunai away and leaning against her closed bedroom door. He was eating into the limited time she had left to pack before she really had to get going.

"You won't train with me, and you're packing although you don't have an assignment." He leaned forward, a menacing look in his eyes which made her uncomfortable. "You're planning something."

"Look I don't have time for this, get out of my room Sasuke." He stayed put and she groaned in irritation, kicking the door as she pushed off it. Normally she would force him out, but she really just didn't have the time. The older boy noted this, and watched as she started pulling clothes out of her dresser and shoving them into her bag. Standing up he silently crossed the room, pinning her against the wall.

"You think you're being sneaky but you're not. Where are you going? Believe me I won't be happy if I find out that my training partner has run off to the Leaf village." Yumi glared at him, not trying to break free since it would be pointless.

"Okay yes, I'm leaving, but I have no obligation to tell you where I'm going. Orochimaru can train you, heck, that murderous Kabuto could train you if you threatened him. I'm not the only one here." His eyes narrowed as he picked up that she had said 'Orochimaru' instead of 'father'.

"You know damn well that Orochimaru has no real intention of training me." Yumi frowned, pulling out of his hold only to cross her arms over her chest. She did indeed know that particular fact. Orochimaru didn't care whether he ever got his revenge - which is what he was training for - he just wanted him for a vessel.

"I can't do anything about that. You do know that you are free to do as you please. Why don't you run off and find somewhere to train that doesn't involve him." Sasuke stared at her, more than a little bit annoyed.

"You think I haven't considered it? The problem is that there aren't all that many people qualified to train with me. You and Orochimaru have extreme knowledge of jutsu and, admittedly, he knows more than you, but you aren't afraid to help me create new jutsu. If I went off to some random place no-one would be able to help me and I would have been better off staying here." Yumi slipped away from him and went back to her packing, having never heard him talk so much at once before.

"You… Do you know how selfish you're being? I know you want Itachi dead, and I'm fine with helping you to achieve that. But what right do you have to try and trap me here? Kabuto killed Saya Sasuke, she's dead." His eyes widened slightly in understanding, but it didn't make him change his tone.

"So what then? Are you going to kill Kabuto? Because I don't care, go ahead, but you're not leaving me here to deal with them." Yumi ground her teeth together as she zipped up her bag and turned to face him.

"I don't care what you do with your life, but you can't stop me from leaving!" Sasuke tensed before getting up and leaving the room, closing the door behind him. She sighed, sitting down on her bed with her head in her hands. So far the day had taken several turns for the worse, getting increasingly worse each time.

Turning she lay down on her bed, deciding to rest her eyes for a minute or two before she left. That also didn't go according to plan. She ended up falling asleep, not waking up until once again someone knocked on her bedroom door half an hour later. Her eyes snapped open and she immediately freaked out. Jumping up she shoved her bag under her bed before opening her door only to come face to face with Sasuke again.

"You again? What do you…?" Cocking her head to one side she scrutinised him, noting the bag on his back. "Seriously?" She muttered to herself, shaking her head. Stepping away from the doorway she picked up her travelling cloak and reached under the bed for her bag.

"I was waiting for you to leave, but you were taking too long." Sasuke leant against the doorframe, arms folded, as he waited. Yumi pulled on her cloak, flipping up the hood and slinging her bag over her back. She tightened the knot on her headband and pulled her fringe forward to cover it before rummaging around for her other cloak. Finding it she chucked it at Sasuke, since he was too easily recognised and he didn't have one with him.

"If you're going to follow me then at least have the decency to cover up. Those naïve friends of yours from the Leaf are probably still looking for you, remember? You should know that better than anyone that they don't give up easily." Sasuke frowned, taking off his bag and shrugging into the cloak anyway, since her words rang true.

"Fine, whatever." He straightened up as Yumi headed back over to the door. Her expression was completely serious, devoid of any of the exhaustion or irritation that had been present earlier in the day. She paused in front of him, adjusting her bag straps as she stared past him.

"We have to be inconspicuous and we have to run, or we're going to be late." She fell silent, ripping a loose thread from the cuff of her sleeve. Putting on an emotionless face she started forward, pushing her way past Sasuke and out into the corridor.

* * *

><p>-Later-<p>

* * *

><p>Nightfall was just around the corner as Yumi and Sasuke arrived at the agreed upon meeting place. The others were already there, most likely having arrived well before the designated time since they wouldn't have had anything to organise. Touma was the first one to notice the arrival of the two Sound ninja, alerting the others to their presence. Taking her hood off Yumi leaned against the tree with the carved arrow, surveying them.<p>

"Who is that?" Touma asked accusingly, pointing a finger at Sasuke. The boy in question stayed silent, ignoring the obvious annoyance in Touma's eyes. Akihiko rested a reassuring hand on Touma's shoulder, trying to calm him down.

"Don't freak out on me. He's a friend and he's coming with us." Yousuke scrutinised Sasuke, looking him up and down before nodding once.

"If he's with you then that's fine." Yumi rolled her eyes, the reality of being the sole female in this group of strange men setting in on her as she explained her decision. The fact that she had shown at all was almost indicator enough that she had planned to go with them, since many of the older men had talked to each other and decided that she probably wouldn't show if she wasn't going to come with them.

"So I'm not really sure how this is going to work out, but I guess we'll just go with it. Anything to get away from Kabuto and my father." The last part was more of an afterthought, just for her ears, but more than a few people heard it anyway.

"Alright. It's late so I think we should just make camp here for tonight." Yousuke took control of the situation, deciding on what was best for the group. After falling asleep one too many times Yumi was no longer in the mood to actually sleep. As the others set up camp for the night Yumi climbed a tree, staring over the forest as the men organised themselves and went to sleep, some staying up by a small campfire and talking.

While she was staring out into the night Sasuke appeared beside her, standing on the branch just behind her. She glanced back over her shoulder at him, sending him a questioning look. She read the boredom in his eyes and she shrugged, climbing to her feet. Looking down over the camp she located an empty spot and jumped to the ground, closely followed by Sasuke. A good portion of the group was asleep, with the exception of Yousuke, a few of the men around his age and, unbeknownst to anyone else, Touma.

While both of them could see well enough in the encroaching darkness the light of the small fire made for better conditions in which to spar. They would both be fighting seriously, but the aim was not to get injured by your opponent, so sufficient light was necessary. Yumi and Sasuke positioned themselves a short distance away from the sleeping men, coincidentally finding themselves directly in Touma's line of sight. The young man didn't trust Yumi, and he was even more suspicious of Sasuke, who had come with her. He had seen the strange transformation that the girl had gone through the day before and he wondered if the newcomer could also do that.

"Let's do this then." Yumi called cheerfully, throwing her cloak away so that it landed at the base of the tree they had just been in. She quickly tied her hair up in a loose bun before raising her arms defensively in front of her, knees bent in a fight-ready position. Taking the initiative she charged forward, aiming a round-house kick at the boy's head which he dodged, following it up with a kick to the ribs which he also dodged. Her first string of attacks had brought her into close proximity to Sasuke but, crush or no crush, she was still going to seriously attempt to beat him up, even if it was only training.

The sparring developed into a pattern, with Yumi throwing kicks and punches while Sasuke carefully and skilfully dodged them all. That is, until she managed to graze the side of his face with her fist. He smirked, flipping away from her before launching himself forward, going on the offensive. Yumi stiffened, caught off guard by his sudden change and barely avoiding his first attack. She took a deep breath, quickly merging into defensive movements, blocking and dodging. This would normally be a warm up, hand to hand combat, since Sasuke liked to practise with his jutsu and with level two, but it was all they could afford to do. Personally she would have preferred to fight with weapons, but the noise would be unfair to thrust upon their new travelling companions.

Touma watched in awe from where he was lying, amazed at the speed at which the two teenagers were moving and the obvious power behind each blow. He had been taught self-defence, but he realised that he wouldn't last a minute against someone with their abilities. About 15 minutes after Sasuke had gone on the offensive they broke apart, Yumi doubled over and breathing heavily while he stood tall, looking calm but also breathing heavily. Touma just gaped at them, never before had he seen anything as intense as the fight he had just witnessed.

"So," Sasuke called over to her, "Are we ready for the main event?" She stiffened, straightening up and staring across at him. The light from the dying fire cast menacing shadows across both of their faces, giving them a look of death, or deadly intent. She rested a hand on her right shoulder, covering her curse mark as she glared at him.

"Not tonight." He frowned, running a hand through his short hair.

"You're no fun." He complained, taking a step forward. Yumi made a speedy set of hand signs before holding her arm out in front of her.

"Senei Jyashu no jutsu." Snakes shot out of her sleeve, wrapping themselves around Sasuke and binding him. Holding her arm up with her other hand she stared angrily at him as he glared at her, staying still as she held him there.

"Listen to me. You can't always train using stage 2, it will ruin your body. The best thing to do is practise jutsu along with improving your taijutsu skills, strengthening your normal body. If you can't understand that then I won't train with you any longer. I shall find someone else to spar with and you will find yourself without a partner to assist you in tracking down that Akatsuki." Sasuke gave her a weird look.

"Why are we hunting the Akatsuki?" It was then that she remembered that she hadn't yet told him what she had learnt, not having had the chance to since her birthday.

"I'll tell you some other time." A bead of sweat rolled down her face, showing the effort it took to actually keep Sasuke bound in her jutsu since he had amazing strength of his own. "Are you going to listen to what I tell you now?" He nodded reluctantly and she let him go, dropping her arms to her sides. Touma's eyes widened in fright as the snakes disappeared, not completely sure where they had come from in the first place since he hadn't come from a hidden village and had no real knowledge of the abilities that ninja possessed.

"That's good." She held herself up tall, watching the other boy and trying to determine if he still wanted to fight.

"You look tired, do you want to stop?" She frowned, shaking her head.

"Don't be stupid, I'm fine." She retorted, purposely taking slow, deep breaths. She was indeed physically exhausted, but she knew that sleep would be impossible, so she was going to continue the sparring match. Sasuke just shrugged, taking another step forward. Touma repositioned himself, hoping to watch their new match as well before he really fell asleep.

There was a flash of something, fire light on metal, and Yumi's eyes widened as she looked behind her to see a kunai embedded into the tree trunk behind her.

"I thought we agreed not to use weapons…" She started before her eyelids drifted closed and she fell back. Sasuke's unusual speed allowed him to appear behind her before she hit the ground, catching her and picking her up in his arms, moving over to the tree and placing her down so that she was leaning against it. He picked up her cloak and threw it on top of her before sitting down between her and where Touma was feigning sleep.

"And you say I'm the one who doesn't know when to stop." He murmured to himself grabbing the kunai and carefully wiping down the blade. He had covered it in a sleep-inducing poison, one that acted quickly. It would wear off in a few hours, but by then she would probably be asleep for real anyway. He had sensed that something was off about her, since she had obviously been exhausted but insisted on continuing to train. She was normally the one who told him off for doing that sort of thing.

* * *

><p>-The Next Morning-<p>

* * *

><p>"Ow my head hurts." Yumi opened her eyes to see the sun shining and a small crowd gathered around her. Confused she went to sit up, but found she already was. "What happened, I don't remember falling asleep…" Touma shot a glance at Sasuke who was conveniently standing elsewhere.<p>

"Who knows?" He hedged, holding his hand out to her. "Anyway, everyone else is ready to move, we were just waiting for you to wake up." She scrutinised the young man, surprised by the change in his behaviour, before taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. Something fell to the ground and she finally saw where it was she had been sleeping.

"Jeez no wonder my head hurts." She commented drily as she bent over, picking up her cloak and her bag, putting both on and flipping her hood up. Sasuke wandered over to their group, dressed like Yumi with his hood up for a disguise. There was no telling who they might encounter as they travelled, so there was no point in taking unnecessary risks.

"Are we all ready to go then?" Yousuke asked, coming over to the small group by the tree after noticing that Yumi was finally awake. They all nodded, with Yumi stepping over to Sasuke as he stood at the outskirts of the group. "Is there anywhere you want to head?"

"As long as we have time to train I don't care where we go." Yumi told him, before sending a worried glance in the direction of the base. "Any direction but west." She added, changing her mind as to avoid passing by the base. That was one part of her life that she was leaving behind forever, not to mention that going near there would be dangerous. Yousuke talked it over with the older men in the group, deciding on where they should go. When they had chosen everyone headed off.

The group was spread out, accounting for the different ages and abilities of the members. They moved at a reasonable pace, but Sasuke and Yumi dropped back so that they were walking about 2 metres away from the back of the main group. Touma noticed their disappearance and drifted to the back, not close enough to annoy them but close enough to keep an eye on them. He was worried about them, for it seemed that they were reluctant and uncomfortable about joining them. It was true that until last night he hadn't wanted her to come with them, but then he had seen the two of them fighting and realised that their amazing strength would be an asset to them, for protection, and hopefully they would teach him too.

Yumi and Sasuke didn't exchange a single word as they walked through the forest, and yet it was a comfortable silence, a sort that had become more common in recent times. As they wandered at the back of the group they heard a noise, the sound of people moving through the tree tops. Holding their hoods up both of them glanced up to the sky, seeing a pink haired girl leaping from branch to branch over their heads. They exchanged a quick glance, Yumi worried and Sasuke vaguely surprised, before turning their gazes back to the grass at their feet before the teenage girl could look down and see them. If the past was going to come back and haunt them they didn't want it to catch up so soon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well I was planning on ending the story here, but I'm not completely sure. If you have any ideas or suggestions for it, or if you want me to continue it, just mention it in a review or PM me about it, I'm open to hearing your ideas. But until that time comes I am marking it as complete, but if you express an interest I will make sure to PM you if I do decide to write any more on it.**

**This chapter is the longest one I have ever written, 10 typed pages and 5,646 words, even longer than chapter 11, which was my previous longest. I went sort of overboard, I just kept adding more to it, I couldn't stop myself :P**

**Anyway, thank you to the people who favourited this story, Z.C.A, GreyCloudySkies and KwelAnime, and to those who read it faithfully up till now, the ones who put it on story alert, kiari-namiro, GrimmyRayne, GreyCloudySkies, KwelAnime and Z.C.A. It made me happy every time I saw a new alert or favourite notification. And thank you to Z.C.A for all her reviews of my story, even though I sort of bugged you to do it anyway, and the anonymous reviews from my friend Sammy, who I also pestered to read this story even though she doesn't know anything about Naruto :P**

**And if for some reason you couldn't figure it out, I don't own Naruto. I don't see the point of doing disclaimers at the start of every chapter, for it seems rather obvious in retrospect. I make an effort to do it in the starting chapter, but after that I don't really care.**

**Edit: Thanks also to Invincible Shadow for the fav story, story alert and review :)**

**So in the last 3 or 4 days I've written another 2 chapters for this, but I'm not sure if I should upload them. I can upload them as a continuation of this, as a sequel, or I can leave it off until I've completely finished writing what I've started... What do you guys want?**


	14. Investigating

**A/N: So I guess I decided that I didn't want to end it at the last chapter. I'm indecisive like that. I also realise that I mucked up the timeline a little bit, but I'm just going to do what I want to make it fight my plans from now on. I'm just going to make this sort of part 2, you know?**

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><p><strong>Arc 2: What do you find when you leave Sound behind?<strong>

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><p><strong><strong>

**Chapter 14: Investigation's don't always go the way you want them to.**

Two months had passed since Sasuke and Yumi joined up with the band of travellers. Yumi had easily adopted her true last name, although she never needed to use it. For the sake of disguise she had gotten blonde streaks in her long black hair. She hated it, but it would make it harder to recognise her at a distance so she didn't have to travel with her hood up all the time. Sasuke however refused to die his hair, so when they approached suspicious looking groups he would put up a henge for the sake of disguise.

During that time they had come to know everyone in the group, although not any more than need be, for there was always the chance that the two of them would suddenly decide to leave again, and in that case it was pointless knowing everyone's life stories. Akihiko was the oldest, in his late fifties, and it was mostly him who made decisions but also him who caused the group to travel at such slow paces. Yousuke, Minato, Junpei and Takeshi were all in their thirties, and Yousuke appeared to be the active leader, or in this case the co-leader since Akihiko was the true leader. Sadahiro and Kosuke were in their twenties. Sadahiro was Akihiko's son, and the two were the only true family in the group. And then there was Touma, the youngest at just 18. Of course, he wasn't the youngest any more, with the addition of the now 16 year old Sasuke and the 14 year old Yumi.

Over the two months Touma had managed to work his way into Yumi and Sasuke's training sessions, although Sasuke refused to train with him, saying that he was too inferior to bother with. That left his training to Yumi, although she didn't really mind. She could understand his desire to get stronger; he wanted to be able to protect the group himself. She was happy to help him, since she had a feeling that her and Sasuke would be leaving eventually, although that wasn't surprising considering they still had to find and deal with Itachi.

* * *

><p>Yumi glanced up at the sky, noting the position of the sun. She sent Sasuke a look before running up to the front of the group. It was mid-afternoon, and they hadn't been able to train the last few days since they were trying to make good time towards their next destination. She had no idea where they were headed, and it didn't really matter to her. So far they had managed to avoid going to any of the hidden villages, and that was without either of them even saying anything to Akihiko.<p>

"Let's stop here for today." Without even trying Yumi had developed a sense of authority, and for the most part they listened to her. Yousuke and Junpei had a quick talk before nodding in agreement.

"Sure, I bet you want to spar with Touma today right? Sorry we haven't been giving you a chance for that lately." She shook her head, it wasn't exactly training that she wanted to stop for, but that would end up included in her plans whether she wanted it or not. Sasuke had been the most annoyed about the lack of training time recently, so she knew he was going to pester her until she agreed to spar with him.

"Give me five minutes." She muttered as she walked past Sasuke and Touma, heading away from the group to find a secluded area. There was something she needed to do, and she'd rather not have an audience for it. It had been two months since they had left, but while she had been keeping an eye out for information she had yet to find anything concerning the Sound. Now it was time for her to do a little investigating, for she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"What is she doing?" Touma wondered aloud, watching as Yumi slipped off into the trees. He made to follow her but Sasuke put a hand on his shoulder, holding the older boy in place and preventing him from following her. He was surprised, but submitted, having learned that the strange young boy preferred not to get too close to them unless he absolutely needed to, meaning that Sasuke knew what she was doing and it was something the rest of them weren't supposed to know about.

Yumi threw a quick look over her shoulder, reassuring herself that no-one had followed her, before settling herself down on the grassy ground, folding her legs under her and looking at the ground. Closing her eyes she brought her hand up to her mouth, biting her thumb before laying her hand out flat on the ground before her.

She focused on who she wanted to summon before whispering "Summoning jutsu." There was a small cloud of smoke and when she opened her eyes her favourite snake was sitting on the ground in front of her. Kara slithered up and wrapped herself around Yumi's shoulders. The teenager hadn't seen or spoken to Kara since before her last encounter with the kyuubi brat Naruto.

"Long time no see." Kara commented, making Yumi laugh. Back with the group Touma and Sasuke heard the laughter, making Touma just that much more curious to see what it was she was doing.

"That's a bit of an understatement." Using one finger she stroked Kara's head in a bit of a silent apology to her serpent friend. "Unfortunately this isn't a social call. Have you been to the base recently? Have you heard anything out of the ordinary? I need information about Father's whereabouts and actions recently." Kara let out a low angry hiss, tensing on the girl's shoulders.

"You took that boy with you didn't you? That's why you expect something to happen." Yumi nodded, blonde hair falling over Kara. She sighed, slithering down Yumi's arm to the ground once more. "Fine, I'll check it out for you, but if I get caught I'm never doing recon for you again."

"Thank you Kara, you're a real life saver. How long do you think you'll need?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe an hour? I'll contact you when I'm inside."

"Alright." Footsteps approached her location as Kara disappeared in another cloud of white smoke, leaving Yumi alone in the clearing as Touma and Sasuke came into view. The younger boy was angry, it would seem that Touma hadn't listened to his warning and gone after her anyway.

"What are you doing?" He asked curiously as Yumi climbed to her feet. She flashed him a fake smile before sending Sasuke a serious look, in other words informing him that they would need to talk in private soon. He nodded once before stepping forward.

"Now that that's done, can we train?"

"Definitely, I've been getting restless these last few days."

"Does that mean we can do THAT?" Touma gave Sasuke a funny look.

"What does that even mean?" Ignoring Touma's question she scratched the side of her head, slipping her beaten and worn headband off of her head and putting it in her pocket. There was a deep scratch in it through the symbol engraved in the metal, showing her allegiances had changed, but she always took it off when she sparred with Touma, almost to remind herself that he was weak and less skilled than she was, that he wasn't a trained ninja and she needed to go easy on him.

"Maybe, but you would have to let me get Touma's lesson out of the way first." He sent her a curious glance, never having expected her to actually agree.

"That's fine." He confirmed, jumping up into a tree to wait for his turn. The older boy turned to face her, excitement lighting up his eyes as she removed her bag and cloak, throwing them out of the way and revealing the clothes she had picked up in the last village; knee-high black boots, black skin-tight shorts, a long-sleeved mesh shirt and a purple tank top over that. It might have been a bad call, still wearing so much purple, but being raised the way she had it had become her favourite colour. She pulled a purple ribbon from her leg pouch, tying her hair up in a ponytail.

"Ready to go?" She asked, dropping easily into a fighting stance. He nodded, charging at her. His speed was still lacking compared to her own, and his strength was lacking, so Yumi always played on defence so that he could practise actual fighting as opposed to how to dodge. Dodging seemed to play a large part in the self-defence that Saya had taught him, so it seemed wasteful to focus too much on it. Trying to land a hit on her would train his reflexes and speed anyway, which was what he needed for avoiding attacks.

Unfortunately her mind was drifting, preoccupied with waiting for a sign from Kara. Touma grinned as he found an opening, kicking her in the stomach and sending her to her knees. She groaned, more out of shock than anything else, and his eyes widened in fear. He had never been able to hit her before, never in all of the two months that she had been training him, and he knew that the first hit he made would barely touch her, and it wouldn't happen for a long while yet. Something was off with her, she had had a distant look in her eyes when he had hit her.

"Hey what's the deal, getting hit like that?" Sasuke berated her, a hand on her shoulder. The older boy hadn't even noticed him leave the tree.

"He just caught me off guard, that's all." Sasuke obviously didn't believe her, but it was enough to reassure Touma that she was okay. She climbed to her feet, walking over to collect her headband. Touma watched as she put it back on, still not really grasping why she only took it off when they fought.

"I guess it's my turn." Sasuke smirked, turning to face her. "And how are we doing this today?" Yumi held a finger to her lips, waiting for him to stop talking.

"Touma, you may want to leave for this." The boy in question shook his head, a determined look in his eyes.

"No way! Your fights are amazing. If I'm going to learn to be as good as you guys then I have to watch your fights." She rolled her eyes, cracking her knuckles.

"Suit yourself." She waited for Touma to move out of the way, watching Sasuke as she did. Holding a hand over her curse mark she stared into his eyes, sharing a silent conversation that no-one else would understand.

Dark black splotches began spreading across Sasuke's body as Yumi's skin turned a pale grey colour, spreading across her entire body as it fanned out from her curse mark. She was moving to attack when she heard a voice in her head. Her skin quickly reverted to its normal colour as she sank to the ground, sitting cross-legged once more in the grass. Sasuke frowned, retracting his own curse mark as he watched her. He figured that her messenger must have come back.

"What's she doing this time?" Touma asked, apparently oblivious to everything else he had just seen. He moved to crouch in front of her, waving a hand in front of her face. He gaped as he saw her eyes. They were unseeing and unblinking. When he reached out to touch her Sasuke grabbed his wrist, throwing him back almost a metre. Under ordinary circumstances one might say that he was being overly protective, but after seeing her eyes he fully understood what she was doing.

"What the hell was that for?" Touma complained, nervously rubbing his wrist. Sasuke ignored him, standing watch.

"What the… Kara are you sure this is it? This is madness." Sasuke turned to her when he heard her voice, a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

"What do you see?" He asked her, ignoring the utterly confused expression on the other boy's face.

"The base has been trashed. Oh Kara, turn left there." Sasuke's frown deepened. He had grown accustomed to her strange abilities in regards to animals, right then it would appear that she was looking through the eyes of one of her snakes, but she never usually spoke whilst doing it, for it was extremely unnerving.

"Trashed? How so?" Touma began to crawl closer, stopping when Sasuke turned his sharingan on him.

"Hold on… Ah, Kara, stop there! What the hell? No way, that's impossible." She stretched her right arm out in front of her, palm facing up. "Sasuke, I need your opinion on something." As soon as the words left her mouth he sat down in front of her, taking her hand in his. He had always been curious as to how her power worked, but until then she had never let anyone else in.

"This is the base?" He asked, Touma inching closer to see Sasuke's now unseeing eyes as the two missing nin faced each other. "What on earth happened?"

"That hole in the ceiling, if you look at the edges, doesn't it remind you of the kyuubi kid's rasengan?" She asked, confusing Touma further as she spouted off words he didn't understand.

"So Naruto was there huh? What about Kabuto and Orochimaru, have you found any sign of them?" The older boy scowled at the mention of Kabuto, having a bit of a grudge against him for obvious reasons.

"Nothing. The base is abandoned. Whatever happened there must have happened at least a month ago." She was suddenly reminded of the pink haired girl she had seen on the day the left. "Or it may even have happened the day after we left."

"So it _was_ her?"

"That's what it seems." Touma had had enough sitting around; he wanted to know what the heck was going on.

"Hey guys I want to see too." He reached his arm out, going to put his hand on top of Yumi and Sasuke's intertwined fingers. Yumi tensed, moving to stand up without breaking the connection she had with Sasuke.

"No Touma, don't!" She cried out in warning. It was too late.

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><p><strong>AN: Cliffhanger! Haha not really… Reviews? Maybe? Please?**


	15. The past always catches up

**Chapter 15: The past ALWAYS catches up.**

"No Touma, don't!" She cried out in warning. It was too late. His hand came down on top of theirs as she stood up. She heard a pained hiss as a scream ripped from her lungs. Her head felt like it was on fire and she snapped her eyes closed when she felt Kara break the connection. She hoped that her snake hadn't been hurt too badly by the influx of extra minds. Yumi herself had never even let 2 people in her mind at once before, and three had pushed her passed her limits.

Touma was forcefully flung away from the two teenagers, getting sent backwards until he slammed into a tree, sliding to the ground and passing out from the impact. Sasuke's hand slipped from her own as he blacked out. The screaming cut off abruptly as her own vision clouded over. She fell forwards, collapsing on top of Sasuke as she succumbed to her own unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Sadahiro was the first to hear the scream. At first no-one was sure what to do, or what it meant. They weren't even sure who it was. That didn't last long though. Minato and Kosuke were the first to realise that it was Yumi who was screaming. The realisation sent ice through their veins. It was impossible for them to imagine what may have happened, they hadn't heard the girl scream once in the whole time they had been with her. Not even the time when Sasuke had accidentally dislocated her ankle during a particularly fierce sparring match on the outskirts of a small village<p>

The men quickly rushed over to where the three teenagers had been sparring together, shocked with what they saw. All three of them were collapsed around the clearing. Junpei, Akihiko and Takeshi ran over to check on Touma while the others went to check on Yumi and Sasuke. Junpei quickly decided that Touma was seriously injured, with a possible concussion, but since they couldn't wake him up they had no way of determining anything.

When none of them had regained consciousness after 10 minutes they started getting worried. The village they had been heading towards was about half a day away at the rate the group had been travelling, but if only one person was going they could get there much faster. Sadahiro was the fastest runner in the group, so they sent him to the village to get help.

* * *

><p>-2 hours later, nightfall, at the village-<p>

* * *

><p>"Damn, how long are they going to take?" Sadahiro muttered to himself as he paced back and forth at the entrance to the village. The guards hadn't let him inside, but they had obliged his request and sent for a group of medical ninja to go back with him. His only worry was that they didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.<p>

* * *

><p>-Somewhere inside the village-<p>

* * *

><p>"Kakashi, I know you've just returned from a mission, but I have a new mission for you. A man is at the gate, and he requested a medic. I've put together a rather large group of medical ninja, since the man mentioned that three people were injured and he doesn't know to what extent. I want you to go along with them, to assess the situation and guard the rest of the group if we have to bring them back to the hospital."<p>

"Hokage-sama?" The blonde woman sitting in front of him had her elbows on the desk, hands folded in front of her face as she frowned.

"I just have a bad feeling about this Kakashi." The man nodded, disappearing from her office to attend to his new mission.

* * *

><p>-Later again-<p>

* * *

><p>Sadahiro was completely exhausted when they finally made it back to where everyone else was. The news was shocking to say the least. In all the time he had been gone none of them had woken up, meaning that something serious must have happened. As he showed the medical ninja and the white haired jounin to Touma, Yumi and Sasuke a look of shock flashed across the jounin's face.<p>

"She was right after all." He whispered to himself. One of the medical ninja quickly confirmed that Touma had four broken ribs and they would need to take him back to the hospital for treatment. They couldn't find anything physically wrong with Yumi or Sasuke however, which certainly stumped them. They decided it was necessary to take them back to the village as well. Kakashi had a quick conversation with them before the medical ninja disappeared into the night with Sasuke, Yumi and Touma.

"We have to go after them!" Minato exclaimed, having become rather attached to the new members of the group. Kakashi nodded in understanding, but threw a concerned look at Sadahiro. The young man was wiped after running to the village and back again as fast as he could and Kakashi was sceptical as to how much more he could handle without a chance to rest properly.

"I understand that you're all worried, but are you sure you're up to it?" He directed the last part directly at Sadahiro.

"I'm fine." He retorted, straightening up and forcing himself to regulate his breathing. The masked ninja sighed; there was just no arguing with some people.

"If you're sure then we should head out now. Chances are we'll get to the village around day break."

* * *

><p>-The next morning-<p>

* * *

><p>Kakashi wasn't really sure what to do with the men, so in the end he allowed them to follow him to the hospital. What he hadn't been expecting was for Tsunade to be waiting for him there.<p>

"_I should have seen this coming, considering who it was."_ He reminded himself as he stopped in front of her. Sadahiro was dead on his feet, being held up by Kosuke and Junpei to ensure that he didn't pass out on the street.

"Hokage-sama, what is the situation?" Tsunade glared at him, angrily biting her thumb nail before answering him.

"I see I was right to be worried about this call-out." Kakashi sighed, closing his one visible eye as Minato stepped forward.

"Where are they? Are they alright? Can we go in and see them?" Tsunade turned her angry glare on Minato and something snapped.

"They were travelling with the two of them, correct?" Kakashi nodded, wondering where she was going with it. "Then we need to keep watch on them." A familiar black haired chunin chose that moment to walk past the hospital. "Shikamaru!" The boy stopped, turning to see the hokage staring intently at him.

"Hokage-sama?"

"Shikamaru, I want you to take these men somewhere and keep an eye on them until you hear otherwise, do you understand?"

"Yes hokage-sama." _'Oh man, what a drag…'_ He rounded the group up and ushered them away from the hospital, ignoring the complaints from most of the men. That was until he pointed out the condition that Sadahiro was in. After that they all reluctantly complied.

"Kakashi, news of this is likely to spread quickly. You probably already know this, but I want you to make sure that Naruto and Sakura don't hear about the situation." The jounin nodded, watching her with his visible eye.

"What are you going to do?" She frowned, her glare turning to concern.

"The boy that's with them, he's seriously injured. I've got him in the same room as the two of them, there are Anbu guarding the room. I'm going to treat him myself, and make sure that I'm present when those two wake up. Those two aren't getting away from me so easily." Kakashi nodded once before disappearing, heading out to find the remaining two original members of team 7.

* * *

><p>-Across town-<p>

* * *

><p>"Hey Sakura, is it just me or does everyone seem kind of tense today?" The blonde questioned as the two of them walked down the street.<p>

"Really? I hadn't noticed." It was a blatant lie. The pink haired medical ninja had heard the whispers, the rumours that had sprung up around the village since that morning. So far she had no proof though, so she didn't want to tell Naruto. She glanced up as she heard pleading voices. Shikamaru was walking down the street, followed by eight or nine other men of varying ages.

"Who the heck are they?" Naruto asked her. She rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to punch him.

"How am I supposed to know? Why don't you ask Shikamaru?" Naruto's eyes glistened and it seemed as though he were about to do just that when one of the men stepped in front of Shikamaru, halting their progress through town.

"Minato calm down!" One of the other men called to him. He scowled, ignoring the other man's plea.

"Shut up Junpei. I understand that Sadahiro's exhausted, but wouldn't it have been better to just admit him to the hospital as well? That way we'd all still be together and we could check on Touma, Yumi and Sasuke! Was that so hard to think of?" Sakura's eyes widened in shock as Shikamaru glared at the man called Minato.

"I'm just following orders."

"Hey Sakura… Did that guy just say what I think he said?" Naruto asked, hope evident in his voice. She nodded and looked at him, meeting his eyes and seeing determination in them. They started moving forward again, meeting Shikamaru's gaze as they passed by the group heading towards the hospital.

"Oh… That can't be good." He muttered to himself before making sure that none of the men were going to try and go back that way.

* * *

><p>-Back with Kakashi-<p>

* * *

><p>Kakashi had done a quick search of the village, but he had come to the conclusion that it was probably already too late, Sakura and Naruto would already have heard the rumours. With that in mind he arrived back at the hospital, positioning himself outside the gate just in time to see the two ninja in question racing towards him.<p>

"Kakashi-sensei is it true?" Sakura asked him when the saw him, stopping at the entrance.

"Is what true Sakura?" He questioned, keeping his voice light and a calm look on the visible features of his face.

"Sasuke and Yumi, they're in the hospital!" Kakashi's gaze hardened and he straightened up.

"Where did you hear that?"

"There were a bunch of guys with Shikamaru and one of them started yelling at him." The jounin frowned under his mask, momentarily closing his eye before shooting a sympathetic look at the two of them. They had heard it from the source, so there was no convincing them otherwise, but even so.

"You can't see them." He stated coldly, inwardly cringing as he saw the looks on their faces.

"Why the hell not?" Naruto complained, starting to get angry.

"Hokage's orders. Even if you went inside they wouldn't let you in the room."

"We'll just see about that then won't we Sakura?" The girl looked torn, but then she nodded, determination filling her eyes. Kakashi sighed, there really was just no reasoning with some people, and his team had always been one of the unreasonable sorts. He let out an annoyed noise as the two pushed past him, intent on heading inside and finding some way to see their old teammate. The fact that he was here now did raise a few questions though. According to what he had heard from Naruto and Sakura after they invaded one of Orochimaru's bases neither Sasuke nor Yumi had been present. Not only that but when they pointed it out and demanded to know their whereabouts the snake-like man had been confused and angry, as though he had only just noticed their absence. Shaking his head he disappeared, reappearing in the hospital room where Tsunade was wrapping bandages around the older boy's torso.

"I failed. They already know."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ah sorry for all the jumping around in this chapter. It is what it is. Thanks again to Invincible Shadow for the reviews :)**

**It's the 23rd of December, so I might as well say Merry Christmas to all my readers since the next chapter probably won't be up until after Christmas. So yeah, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah and whatever else you people celebrate at this time of year.**


	16. Enemies don't stay enemies forever

**Chapter 16: Enemies don't stay enemies forever**

Yumi twitched. Her head still felt like hell, but it had settled down into a strong throbbing as opposed to the intensive pain it had been in before. It almost felt like she had a migraine, although that wouldn't surprise her if it turned out to be true. She rolled onto her side, surprised at not feeling the hard packed earth of the clearing where she had been sparring. With confusion sharpening her mind and temporarily overcoming the throbbing of her head she opened her eyes, gasping in shock when she saw Sasuke just out of her reach in a hospital bed.

"Hospital…?" Her eyes widened in fear and suspicion before her eyebrows pulled down and knit together in thought. Pushing back the covers she sat up, backing up against the wall and reaching for her kunai pouch only to find it mysteriously missing.

"You didn't think I'd be naïve enough to leave you with your weapons did you?" Asked an all too familiar voice from her left. Turning that way she spotted Touma covered in bandages on another hospital bed, and a blonde woman leaning against the door.

"Tsunade-sama you aren't very trusting are you?" She pointed out, throwing a worried look at Touma who was still very much unconscious.

"Are you telling me that I'm wrong, considering you immediately reached for your weapons?" Yumi glared at the older woman, rearranging the pillows behind her back.

"When you wake up in a place different to where you fell asleep, or in this case passed out, then you have every right to be suspicious and on edge Tsunade-sama." She couldn't keep her eyes fixed on Tsunade for long, they kept flicking back to Touma. By now Tsunade was sure that she wasn't hearing things. The girl in front of her was being more respectful to her now than she had when she had been undercover! Unfortunately she had no idea what that might mean. Stepping away from the door she walked over to Yumi's bed and leaned down until she was eye to eye with the young girl.

"So what's the deal with this situation?" She asked, flicking Yumi's headband. It would appear that circumstances had changed, especially since she had been found travelling with a group of civilians. Yumi frowned at her from behind her black and blonde hair.

"I left. Isn't it kind of obvious?"

"Perhaps so, but it's curious that you would be so keen to advertise your missing nin status to the world. I notice that Sasuke isn't wearing a headband at all anymore. Why didn't you follow his lead?" Yumi smirked, not at all intimidated by Tsunade's questioning.

"He didn't stop wearing it by choice; it slipped out of his pocket and fell off a cliff while we were crossing a bridge. And for your information I wear it because I don't care if the world knows. No-one really cares if I abandon the Sound village, no-one except Father and Kabuto, so it's actually safer to be a missing nin from the Sound than to be an actual Sound shinobi." Tsunade frowned, surprised by her insightfulness about the situation.

"So your father…?" Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Like you don't know who it is." She looked away from Tsunade, climbing out of her bed and walking over to stand next to Touma. "Tsunade-sama, what's his condition?" The hokage blinked in surprise, not having expected the girl to actually care about his wellbeing.

"He's broken a few ribs and is obviously unconscious. I don't think he has a concussion, and I've been treating him myself until you woke up. He'll be okay, but he'll need time to rest and recuperate."

"I see…" Sitting down on the edge of his bed Yumi leaned forward, resting a hand on either side of his head before resting her forehead lightly against his. She closed her eyes and black chakra flowed from her hands, surrounding the two of them.

Yumi opened her mind's eye and found herself in a blank space. She had somehow made her way deep into Touma's subconscious mind, and it wasn't long before she saw him. He had his back to her, so she called out to him.

"_Touma, it's time for you to wake up."_ He turned around to face her, confusion on his face as he studied her.

"_Yumi, is that you?"_

"_Yes, it's me, but I shouldn't be here. You need to wake up."_

"_What are you talking about? I am awake aren't I?"_ Yumi glanced around the place they were in, wondering how he could possibly think that he was awake. But then again it might look different to him. She had never done anything like this before in her life, so she didn't really know what she was doing.

"_Just listen to me okay? You have to wake up. Open your eyes and wake up. Now isn't a good time to be unconscious."_

"_Unconscious?"_

"_I don't have much time left, so just wake up. Please?"_ His eyes widened in shock at her words and he reached out to her as she faded away, opening her eyes and pulling away from his real body just as his eyes shot open. He tried to sit up but she quickly held him down, worried about his ribs.

"What do you mean you don't have much time left?" He asked her frantically, staring into her surprised blue eyes. She shrugged and turned away from him.

"Well you know, lots of people out there want to kill me. I'm a criminal after all. Tsunade-sama here is probably one of them." When she looked back at him he was looking at Tsunade with a terrified look in his eyes.

"Hey calm down, I was joking! All I meant was that it felt like I shouldn't spend any more time inside your mind. It was rebelling, kicking me out. I was honestly surprised that I had gotten inside at all." Tsunade sat down on Yumi's bed, biting her thumb nail as she mulled over what the girl had just said.

"Yumi when did you learn that jutsu?" She turned, rearranging herself on the edge of the bed so that she could comfortably face the hokage of the Leaf.

"Never. I never learnt it and no-one taught it to me. I don't even think it IS a jutsu to be perfectly honest."

"Well what is it then?"

"I'm not really sure. I've never exactly done that before. I've done something similar with animals on a few occasions, although normally with the same snake because she was willing to let me practise on her. Until now I'd never actually delved into anyone's subconscious before. I used it to see through the animal's eyes for recon and gathering information, and I've thought-touched with animals before, but I've never been able to thought-touch with a person."

"You claim it isn't a jutsu, but then what is it? Do you think it's a kekkai genkai?" Yumi sent Tsunade an incredulous look.

"A kekkai genkai? Not that I know of. You should know as well as I do that my father had no such ability, or if he did he never used it even once." Tsunade had to agree with her on that, if Orochimaru had had a skill he would have used it, and if he never used it it meant he didn't have it. Touma slowly and cautiously sat up, wincing as pain shot up from his ribs but enduring anyway, leaning back against his pillows when he was sitting upright.

"Communicating with animals? Saya used to do something like that. She always did it away from the rest of us, but one time I found her asleep against a tree surrounded by a bunch of rabbits. They ran away the moment they noticed me, so it seems odd that they would have stayed so willingly with her." Yumi climbed to her feet, moving over to the window to look outside.

"It sounds a bit odd but, maybe it's a kekkai genkai after all." She frowned at her reflection in the glass, the unwelcome reminder of death and betrayal putting extra stress on her already exasperated state of mind.

"Why the sudden change of tune? Who is this Saya person exactly?" Tsunade asked, surprised at how easily the prodigy from the Sound was opening up to her.

"Saya was my mother." Yumi replied sharply, turning back from the window to face them, eyes guarded in an attempt to supress her rampant emotions that she had yet to learn to control. Tsunade's gaze sharpened. She hadn't missed the way Yumi had worded her statement.

"You said she 'was' your mother. There's more to this story isn't there?" She wouldn't be pushing the girl if she hadn't thought it might have something to do with their current situation.

"Saya's dead," Touma spoke up from his bed when he saw that Yumi didn't want to talk about it. "That Kabuto guy killed her."

"I see… Well that explains your abrupt 180, but what about Sasuke?" She turned to look at the still unconscious Uchiha in the other bed. Yumi snorted in amusement, leaning against the wall.

"He probably didn't have a real reason for leaving. I decided to leave and he followed me on a whim. The fact that I was his main training partner most likely had something to do with it as well." Yumi watched Sasuke, coming to the conclusion that he wasn't going to wake up soon if left alone.

"Hey Yumi, how is it that you know these people?" Touma asked, not only referring to Tsunade but seemingly to the entire village.

"What, you haven't told them about your past?" Tsunade asked mockingly, causing Yumi to scowl at the older woman.

"The only reason I said anything at all was so you wouldn't kill us! You're lucky that Sasuke isn't awake yet. I put off waking him up so that I could try and convince you that we aren't a threat to the hidden Leaf village. He wouldn't care what you thought." Touma realised that he was now being ignored, so he carefully lay back down on his bed, instead choosing to ponder how on earth he had broken his ribs.

"You really think highly of yourself don't you?" Yumi ignored Tsunade, moving to sit on the edge of Sasuke's bed, leaning over and touching her forehead to his as she closed her eyes.

When she opened her mind's eye she was in a room that she didn't recognise. It was momentarily empty, but then people began appearing. There was blood, a lot of blood, and people supposedly dead on the floor. A young man, still a teenager, was standing over them with a blood-stained weapon. He reminded her of Sasuke, and she realised that it must be Itachi. Lastly she noticed the smaller version of Sasuke out of the corner of her eye, and she decided that it wasn't something she was supposed to see. It was his memory. Glancing around her she found a door and hurriedly stepped through it, closing it behind her.

Although the door had seemed like part of the memory, when she looked around she was in a completely different place. She was in a clearing by a river, watching herself and Sasuke face off against a blue, shark-like man and another who she guessed to be Itachi. It was then that she realised that it was no longer memories, but a dream, and that Sasuke wasn't actually unconscious anymore. Yumi turned her back to find a way out of that particular part of his dream when she heard her own voice cry out in pain. Spinning around she saw herself bleeding out on the ground, Sasuke kneeling down beside her.

This was something she wasn't supposed to see, not ever. His subconscious mind taking form in his dreams, showing his fears. Closing her eyes she willed herself to wake up, and when she opened them again she was back in the real world. Sitting up she blinked, trying not to think about what she had just seen. She was doing a pretty good job at it too, until Sasuke sat up suddenly, sharingan activated and eyes furious.

"What the-" Tsunade exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Yumi remembered the old belief that it was better not to wake someone when they were having a nightmare. It would appear that it may have been truer than she thought. His hand sparked and she saw him begin to form the chidori, still not entirely conscious of where he was or what was going on.

"Sasuke calm down!" She cried out, grabbing his wrist and forcefully stopping the jutsu. He turned to her and his eyes widened in surprise, sharingan fading from them.

"But you're dead?" He muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Yumi shook her head and let go of his wrist.

"It was just a dream." She reassured him. Tsunade watched their actions with shock. Certainly the boy had changed completely, but perhaps not in the way she had first believed.

Voices sounded from the corridor, the sound of people arguing. Tsunade sighed, it was most likely someone harassing the Anbu guards outside. She was just lucky that they hadn't come any earlier, for it might have ruined her chance for gathering information.

"Just let me in already!" Yumi and Sasuke exchanged a knowing look with each other. They both recognised the voice; it was hard to mistake for anyone else.

"Tsunade-sama, Touma, we'll be back in a minute." Yumi whispered as she opened the window, letting Sasuke climb out onto the roof overhang that was jutting out from the first floor. With a quick glance over her shoulder she followed him, shutting the window behind her.

"Come on!" Naruto yelled. Tsunade took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Naruto what are you doing making so much noise out here? It's a hospital you know."

"Ah, Grandma Tsunade!" He slipped past her, examining the room. "What? They aren't here!" Sakura poked her head around the door, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Who's not here?" Tsunade asked, feigning ignorance. Touma stared at the two newcomers from his bed, wondering how Tsunade could be Naruto's grandmother when she didn't look old enough.

"Sasuke and Yumi!" The blonde was practically yelling now, and the two shinobi in question cringed at the noise as they remained hidden.

"Naruto calm down, maybe they really aren't here after all." Sakura called quietly from the doorway. Naruto frowned, walking back over to her.

"I'll find them someday, and you better believe it." The pink haired girl nodded once before dragging Naruto from the room.

"My apologies Hokage-sama, I'll make sure Naruto doesn't disturb the hospital again." With that Sakura forcefully removed Naruto from the room. Yumi paused and listened for a minute, making sure they were actually leaving before opening the window and climbing back inside.

"I'm honestly surprised that he didn't look out the window." She commented as she sat down on Sasuke's bed, glad that they had managed to avoid detection for now. "So how much of the village knows we're back?"

"Of course there are rumours floating all over the village, but Kakashi and members of the hospital are the only people who have seen the proof." The fourteen year old crossed her arms, lying back on the bed. Sasuke was sitting on the windowsill, apparently not the least bit worried about being spotted from the street.

"Well I suppose I should thank you, but I have a feeling that there's something more you want from us." She stared up at the ceiling, hands behind her head. Tsunade's mouth twitched into a smirk.

"Still as observant as ever I see." Her voice turned serious as she looked at them. "You are no longer loyal to that snake bastard Orochimaru, but that makes you missing nin. It took a lot of effort on my behalf to convince the village elders not to put you two in the bingo books. Now that you are villageless, I would like to request that you reinstate yourselves as shinobi of the Leaf." Yumi started laughing while Sasuke stared at her blankly.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She managed when she calmed down. "Why on earth should we do that? We're managing just fine on our own, right Sasuke?" He nodded, keeping alert in case anyone else decided to barge into their hospital room.

"That may be so, but if you continue as missing-nin then you'll get hunted down and attacked on sight by members of all the villages. I know you two, you would easily rank as S-class criminals, but it doesn't have to come to that."

"We don't need your help, nor do we need the help of the village. We'll do what we need to do and then get on with our lives." Sasuke added pointedly, his refusal weighing heavily in his words.

"Tsunade-sama I really don't understand why you're pushing this so much. What good would it do you to have us back?" Tsunade scrutinised the two young shinobi, trying to see through their shells.

"Well if you two pledged your loyalties to the hidden Leaf then I would have 2 more jounin, or even Anbu level shinobi under my command. Not only that but they would most likely be a great asset in regards to getting rid of the criminal organisation by the name of Akatsuki." Yumi sat up and glared at the hokage. The way Tsunade was talking was trying to twist them into accepting.

"You want us to help you get rid of Pein? No thanks. We only have one target, but if Kisame gets in the way that's another story altogether. What happens to the rest of them is none of my concern." Tsunade bit her thumbnail, scowling. _'That's right, Orochimaru was in the Akatsuki. She probably has all sorts of information on the members. If only she would co-operate with me!'_

"I understand that you have a vendetta, but what are you actually going to do once you've killed Itachi? What are you going to do when you aren't a shinobi?" Yumi scratched her head and turned to look at Sasuke, who shrugged.

"I hate to admit it, but she sort of makes a valid point." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"It's up to you." He said, handing all responsibility over decisions to Yumi.

"Hey that's not fair!" She opened her mouth to say something else, but then caught his eye. _'Oh… I get it now.'_

"Yumi?"

"Damnit Sasuke, if you want something why can't you just say it…" She muttered to herself before looking up and over at the blonde woman. "If we become Leaf shinobi then our movement will be restricted and we won't have the same freedom to pursue our goal. How is that in our favour?"

"I'll put you two on every Akatsuki related mission we get. How about that?" Yumi's eyes widened in surprise and she reached out, hand brushing against Sasuke's.

"_She really is persistent. Do you think it's really just our strength that she wants? I have reservations, she wouldn't normally do this sort of thing."_

"_Ha, maybe Naruto got to her."_

"_Maybe, but we still have to decide what to do."_

"…"

"_Urgh, don't be like that. It's such a big decision!"_

"…"

"_Oh come on! Jeez… I guess it would be nice to have a home again…"_

"_Well that decides that then."_

"_Seriously?"_ Yumi turned back to Tsunade, nervously biting her lip. _"You're absolutely sure about this?"_

"… _Yes."_ She sighed, closing her eyes. When she opened them again they showed determination, and for a moment Tsunade thought she was going to refuse her offer.

"Tsunade-sama… This is strange for me to be saying but… We have decided to accept your proposition, on the basis that you share all information regarding the Akatsuki with us." Tsunade smiled, letting out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. The two teenagers would be a great asset to the hidden Leaf village, and the faster they got rid of the Akatsuki the better.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Soo... random chapter. She has a totally weird kekkai genkai and all that... She's a very odd person, but what would you expect being raised by Orochimaru? **

**I am going to change the future! There's no way I'm letting "Insert Name Here" die! You won't know who it is though until I get there**


	17. Reunions

**Chapter 17: Reunions**

Yumi sat down on the edge of the bed, taking her Sound headband off. She didn't need it anymore, but she didn't want to get rid of it either. Running a hand through her hair she tied it around her neck as though it were a choker, wrapping her new Leaf headband around her forehead. As she glanced over at Sasuke she saw the brand new headband on his own forehead, and realised just how strange it would have been if they had stopped being shinobi. It would have been too much to adjust to, a quiet life with no fighting or recon or missions. With no action and adventure, and certainly with no goals, the two of them would have become mere shadows of their previous selves, not really existing.

"How are you doing Touma?" She asked, moving to stand next to the injured man's bed. Tsunade had left after they had received their new headbands, probably to go do some paperwork that she had been avoiding while she was in the hospital. Even so she had promised to come back later on to check on him.

"As good as I can be given the situation." He replied light-heartedly, turning his head to look at her. He was annoyed. Annoyed that he was injured, and annoyed that the two teenagers were going to remain in the village when their group moved on again. Not that they would be going anywhere anytime soon, since they had to wait for him to recover first.

"You know what I mean." She rolled her eyes, stretching her arms over her head. "We're going to go out now. Hospitals give me the creeps." She stifled a shudder as her mind momentarily drifted to the lab where Kabuto did all his experiments.

"If you see the others tell them I'm fine, okay?" Yumi nodded, motioning to Sasuke that she was going before heading out the door. Most noticeable was the absence of the Anbu who were supposedly guarding their room. Assumedly Tsunade had dismissed them when she left. She shook her head, figuring that the hokage was trying to reassure them that she was going to keep her word.

Sasuke took the lead, being the only one out of them who actually knew their way around the hospital. Yumi had only been there once before, and that had been when she escaped out the window after being brought it unconscious. In fact it almost seemed to be a pattern, although she hoped that it would end with just two occurrences. She noted with mild amusement that the people in the lobby were less than happy to see them. It made her want to laugh at the irony of the situation, but that wouldn't do her any good, so she stayed silent.

Honestly she didn't care what the people thought of her, she knew that was true. As she walked out of the building the only thing plaguing her mind was what happened to the people who had been fighting against the Sound 4 all those years ago. She didn't know what had happened to them, what their fates were. Normally she would have said that they had all been killed, but given the circumstances that was unlikely.

"Kakashi?" The two teenagers questioned at the same time as they saw the jounin standing just inside the hospital's fence. He nodded once in greeting, putting the book he had been reading away in his bag. There was a quizzical look on Yumi's face while Sasuke was emotionless. They both stared at him, being pulled out of their shock when they heard footsteps coming towards them. Yumi reached down and pulled a kunai out of her recently re-acquired leg pouch, expecting an attack. Instead she was pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

"I… can't breathe." She protested, dropping the knife on the ground as she fought against it, trying to break free. The pressure lessened until she could break free, taking a step back and looking up at her attacker as she bent down to pick up her kunai.

"Sakura?" The pink haired shinobi smiled at her, and Yumi was surprised that Sasuke wasn't laughing at her. Turning around she quickly realised why. Sakura and Kakashi weren't the only ones they had stumbled upon. Sasuke was practically being smothered by an all too familiar blonde who had attached himself to the black haired teen's arm.

"Help me!" He begged quietly after failing to remove Naruto. Sakura and Yumi stared at the two boys before bursting into a fit of laughter. Yumi had never seen the older boy as uncomfortable as he was at that very moment, and she couldn't help but find it incredibly funny. Unfortunately for her that particular moment was short-lived.

"Yumi!" Naruto suddenly pulled away from Sasuke and pulled Yumi into a hug, although it wasn't as bone-crushing as when Sakura had hugged her. She flinched, not used to so much physical contact when it wasn't related to training or a fight.

"Naruto?" She questioned nervously, resisting the urge to punch him and throw him over her shoulder. He let her go and she stepped away, moving until she was standing next to Sasuke. Naruto looked at the two of them, a massive grin on his face.

"I knew you guys weren't really betraying us, I knew you would come back." Yumi scratched the back of her head, unsure of how she could respond to his enthusiasm. She couldn't exactly tell him that she only came back due to an accident. He wouldn't believe her anyway, he never did believe the things he didn't want to hear. There was a loud clap and the four teenage shinobi turned to Kakashi, faces painted with varying degrees of curiosity.

"This is very touching and all, but Yumi and Sasuke have been unconscious for almost 20 hours. I think you should let them be for now." The younger girl breathed a sigh of relief, which was immediately interrupted by her stomach growling. Sasuke turned to her, eyebrow raised in amusement. That was until his own stomach growled, after which he looked absolutely mortified.

"Let's go to Ichiraku's!" Naruto called enthusiastically. Yumi and Sasuke looked like they were going to protest, but their bodies were working against them, forcing them into submission.

"Ichiraku, that's the ramen shop, right?" The bottomless pit of a shinobi looked over at her.

"You've been there?"

"No, I just remember Sakura showing it to me." Kakashi left the teenagers in favour of finding the hokage and questioning her about the new development. He had originally figured she would keep them under lock and key, but there they were, walking free and apparently reinstated.

The four young shinobi approached the ramen shop, Naruto talking loudly the whole way there while the other three remained quiet for the most part, with the exception of Sakura occasionally yelling at Naruto. It was extraordinarily lively, and Yumi was wondering how she was going to cope with the differences. The orange clad shinobi walked straight inside the small shop, loudly announcing their arrival.

"Hey Naruto." Another voice called in greeting. Yumi would have said that it was the owner of the shop, but unfortunately it was a voice she recognised. Unsure of what to do she stayed outside, nervous about encountering the other patron. Sasuke was the only one to notice her discomfort, stopping and staring at her. The two of them could easily communicate without speech, and it was clear to her what he was trying to tell her._ 'Are you afraid? You'll have to confront them eventually. Putting it off will only make it worse.'_ She was honestly surprised that he was being so insightful at that moment, confused as to how he could stay so calm. Then again, the Uchiha she knew wasn't one for panic.

"Fine." She muttered so that only he could hear before following him into the shop. The conversation that had been taking place inside abruptly cut off when they stepped inside. The fifth figure turned in his seat and scrutinised them. Yumi cringed internally, but forced herself to stand tall and face him, reluctantly understanding that she would run into all of them sooner or later.

"So the rumour was true after all." He commented before turning back to his bowl of ramen. Yumi flinched, not having expected to be brushed off like that.

"Choji?" She questioned, taking a step towards him. The older boy glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" He asked around a mouthful of ramen. She swallowed nervously and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry." He sat up and turned to face her properly.

"What are you sorry for?"

"What? I… uh…" She fiddled with the headband around her neck, running her finger over the deep gash in the metal. "We, no, I… I caused you a lot of trouble back then, didn't I?" Choji shrugged and turned back to his food once more. Yumi clenched her pendant in one hand and scowled at the floor. "I will never understand boys." She murmured irritably before giving up, sitting down and ordering her own food.

* * *

><p>When they left Naruto had consumed a full seven bowls of ramen, while Yumi had eaten two bowls and Sakura and Sasuke had both stuck with one bowl each. The blonde teen's eating habits were rather alarming to Yumi, who hadn't actually witnessed him eat before. She hadn't thought it possible for someone to eat so much, but she was sorely mistaken. Choji hadn't spoken at all other than to say goodbye when he left, and Yumi was still confused as to what his behaviour was supposed to mean. No-one in the Leaf village had ever made sense to her, they were very tiring people. They didn't have any real aim; they were just wandering around the village. Yumi and Sasuke only stayed with them because they didn't have anywhere else to go. As they walked they came across a large group of men.<p>

"Hey, it's them again." Sakura whispered, nudging Naruto. Yumi examined the group, recognising them almost immediately.

"Hey! Minato, Yousuke!" She yelled, causing the men to stop and face them. Suddenly the four teenagers were surrounded by them. A hand clamped down on Yumi's shoulder and she spun to find herself face to face with Akihiko. He smiled at her, his eyes resting on her shiny new Leaf headband.

"I'm glad to see you two are safe." She grinned at the old man. "How is Touma doing?"

"Oh yeah, he wanted me to tell you guys that he's fine, although I have a feeling that that's partially his ego talking." Junpei laughed and ruffled Sasuke's hair, much to the shock of the outsiders. Naruto's mouth fell open as he stared at the strange scene before him. Even Sakura was shocked to see Sasuke tolerating the actions of the older men. Before he probably would have beaten them up for trying to touch him. Minato turned to say something to Takeshi and he saw the other two teenage shinobi standing awkwardly at the edge of the group.

"Are they friends of yours? Jeez you two sure make friends quickly." He commented, smiling. Sasuke scoffed.

"Don't be stupid; no-one makes friends that quickly, not even Naruto. This is my hometown." The group feel silent and they all turned to look at him. The travellers might not have come from hidden villages, but even they knew the consequences of leaving your village like he apparently had. However no-one wanted to say anything about it, since they had obviously been accepted back into the village without any problems.

"Hey wasn't Shikamaru with you guys earlier?" Sakura pointed out suddenly, looking around for the chunin in question.

"The guy with the headband? Oh, he left to take Sadahiro to the hospital." Minato informed them.

"What?" Yumi cried out, eyes blazing with concern. "Why is Sadahiro in the hospital?"

"Don't worry about him." Akihiko told her reassuringly. "He was merely exhausted, so the young man decided it might be best to take him to the hospital so that he could rest."

"Oh, well, I guess that's okay then." With her worries pushed aside they said farewell to the travellers and headed off again, eventually finding themselves outside the hospital again. Yumi didn't really feel up to going back inside though, so she was glad that she had taken her things with her when she had left earlier in the day.

"I…" Sakura was promptly cut off by Yumi yawning. The younger girl shrugged.

"Damn, I am never doing that again, I'm exhausted." She muttered to herself before remembering that Sakura had been about to say something. "Sorry…"

"No it's okay, I was just going to ask if you wanted to go and see your friend." Yumi was silent for a moment, staring up at the hospital.

"No, I don't need to." She replied after a while. "I know he'll be fine, so I'll just see him again when he leaves the hospital." Tsunade's apprentice sighed, unsure of how to process her line of thought.

"Well what should we do now then?" Naruto asked, still as hyperactive as he had been several hours ago. Yumi breaking out into another yawn was enough of an indicator for Sakura.

"Looks like it's time to call it a day." She pointed out to the thick-headed blonde. "You can stay at my place for now." Yumi tensed, not enjoying the prospect of having to stay with the older girl, but since she didn't have anywhere else to stay she couldn't easily refuse the offer either.

"Ah… Sure." Naruto quickly thrust the same deal on Sasuke, and the four of them parted ways, two headed in one direction and two headed in another.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This has got to be my laziest and yet most productive holiday yet! I have a feeling it will be harder to update quickly once I go back to school at the start of February, but until then I'll just have to work hard :)**

**My family is embarrassing... My uncle told me I need to get a boyfriend so that we can get married so he can show christmas pictures at my wedding. I mean WTH? I'm not even 16 yet, jeez!**

**Anyway, next chapter, I know roughly what I'm going to do, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to writing it, since I've started watching Romeo X Juliet and I sort of want to finish it... Well anyway, happy holidays and all that stuff :)**


	18. Test of Strength

**Chapter 18: Test of Strength**

A letter had arrived at Sakura's house addressed to Yumi, and the contents of that letter led them to the training ground where the two girls were currently sitting on the ground, waiting. There had been nothing in the letter stating that Sakura needed to come, but unfortunately Yumi had needed someone to show her to the ground, since it wasn't a place she had ever been to before.

Not long after the two girls had arrived Sasuke and Naruto also turned up at the training ground. Sakura seemed a bit surprised by their appearance - namely the appearance of Sasuke - which only confirmed to Yumi that it was going to take a while for their presence to really be accepted.

"What are you two doing here?" Yumi asked, breaking the silence.

"I got a letter. I'm assuming you got one too, otherwise you wouldn't have bothered to come out here." She nodded along as Sasuke spoke, tying her hair up in a bun for what she believed to be the reason for their summons. She was proved right not long after when two men appeared in the grounds.

"You, you're that fake Sasori!" Yumi accused, staring at the unmasked ANBU member. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as she ranted. "I was looking forward to finally seeing what that Sasori guy looked like, you ruined my day." Sakura deigned to ignore Yumi, staring at the ANBU instead.

"Captain Yamato, YOU called us out here?"

"Well I only called Sasuke and Yumi, you and Naruto followed of your own accord." She rolled her eyes.

"This was Tsunade-sama's idea wasn't it?" Yumi asked, stepping forward.

"Yes…"

"Alright, this should be interesting then." She stretched her arms out in front of her, cracking her knuckles.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked suddenly, as oblivious as ever. Sasuke bit back an angry and probably sarcastic retort, shoving Naruto back against a tree as he stepped forward to face the ANBU.

"So are we doing a battle royal, last man standing sort of thing? Or are we splitting up into two pairs?" Yumi asked, feigning actual interest. She didn't care how it went down; she just wanted to start the fight. She hadn't had the chance to actually spar with Sasuke the other day after all, meaning it had been a week since her last proper workout.

"Pairs." Yamato concluded. "We need to test your individual strength and technique, not your teamwork. We can deal with that at another time." She nodded, exchanging a quick look with Sasuke. The older boy shook his head the tiniest bit and she grinned, winking as she subtly tapped her shoulder before turning back to face the two adults.

"Well then I pick him." She called, pointing to the masked ANBU man. Yamato blinked in surprise, caught off guard by her declaration. "I've already seen you fight." She pointed out when she saw the look on his face. "It wouldn't be nearly as much of a challenge if I fought with you."

Yamato sighed, closing his eyes momentarily before turning to Sasuke. "Fine, that means you're with me." The young Uchiha nodded once before turning his back on the temporary captain of squad 7 and walking out to the centre of the training ground.

"Well?" He called back, the first thing he had said during the entire time they had been there that hadn't been directed to his companion of the last three years. Yamato ran a hand through his hair, silently wondering why he had been chosen for this particular task.

"Oh, so we're fighting separately… I guess that's okay." Yumi muttered, pouting as she jumped up to find a good viewing point in one of the trees at the edge of the ground. She was the only one who noticed the smirk on Sasuke's face, just as he was the only one who had heard her complaints. Naruto and Sakura both sat down as they prepared to watch what promised to be an interesting battle, considering who was to be involved in it.

"Beat him into the ground Sasuke!" Yumi yelled suddenly from her seat high up in the tree. He actually laughed at that before sinking into a fighting stance, calmly watching Yamato and waiting for some signal to start the fight.

Yamato turned to face the young Uchiha boy, raising one hand to chest level. Sasuke tensed, immediately activating his sharingan. There was no point taking any chances, after all, he had never seen the man fight before. Charging forward he launched into a barrage of physical attacks, fighting in such a way that kept Yamato in close proximity to him and prevented the older man from having a chance to perform any ninjutsu. The sharingan allowed Sasuke to see where Yamato was dodging to, allowing him to compensate for his movement and land a blow almost every single time. The captain wasn't ANBU for nothing though, and although the kicks and punches hit he managed to avoid getting hit by most of the power behind them. Eventually he found an opening in which Sasuke wouldn't be able to dodge, even knowing that his attack was coming. He smacked the sharingan wielder in the face, sending him spinning across the ground, landing several metres away. The teenager frowned, having lost one of his advantages. Blinking once he saw Yamato begin to do a series of hand signs, so he quickly started doing a series of his own.

"Fire style: Fire ball jutsu." Yamato was forced to interrupt his own jutsu as he dodged the massive ball of fire which came his way, giving Sasuke the chance to perform another jutsu while the older man was distracted. The moment he finished the hand signs he began charging at Yamato, right hand by his side as it began sparking. The captain made to dodge the chidori, but Sasuke's sharingan had seen it coming and he had set his course accordingly, managing to grab onto his arm and send the shockwave through his body. Even as Yamato collapsed to the ground from the electrical surge Sasuke knew it wasn't the real one, quickly spinning and scanning the area with his sharingan.

Sitting in her tree Yumi wanted to call out and help Sasuke, but she knew it would only piss him off. She knew perfectly well where the real Yamato had scampered off to, having been keeping a close eye on his movements. And then, just to be certain, she had acquired the help of a small bird to confirm his position for her. It seemed as though the captain had no intention of actually fighting Sasuke face to face. The only explanation that she could come up with for it being that he didn't believe Sasuke would change sides so easily, and he was afraid that he wouldn't show any restraint in the fight. She rolled her eyes, dropping twigs on Naruto's head and whistling innocently when he glared up at her.

"What's your deal?" He asked, almost whining. She dropped a leaf on his face and he scowled at her.

"Just watch the fight, it's about to get interesting." She had seen it; Sasuke had noticed where the real Yamato was hiding out. "Show no mercy!" She yelled, just to annoy the captain. She could have sworn she saw Sasuke roll his eyes, but it was probably just her imagination since he was evidently focused on the fight at hand.

Red eyes flicked from side to side, giving off the impression that he was looking for something. In actuality he had already found what he was looking for, and was taking his time to decide what to do next. There was no point in him expending too much chakra, and if he tried to do any of his more powerful ninjutsu then he might accidentally kill the captain's real body. He wasn't used to having to ensure that his opponent remained alive. Rolling his shoulders he suddenly charged forward, rushing towards the place where Yamato had been hiding, pulling kunai and shuriken from his leg pouch as he ran. He threw them ahead of him as he watched his target move around. They all missed, but that was the point, they were decoys. One of the kunai was attached to a length of wire, and when Yamato made the mistake of stopping next to it Sasuke smirked, the other end of the wire in his mouth. Making a quick set of hand signs he sent a massive fireball shooting down the wire. When the ANBU man saw what Sasuke was doing he immediately looked to his feet, but by the time he realised he had been tricked it was too late to dodge completely. The flames singed the right side of his uniform as he jumped out of the way, somehow landing on the ground in front of those who had been watching.

"I think we'll call it a day for now Sasuke." He called over to him. Sasuke nodded once before shooting off into the trees to recollect his weapons. It would cost a bit to have to replace that many, so exerting a little bit of effort in their retrieval was a better option. Yumi climbed to her feet on the branch where she had been sitting while everyone had their backs to her. Making hurried hand signs she leaned against the tree trunk in concentration, creating a quick clone. She then instructed it to remain out of sight in the tree until she signalled for it.

"I guess it's my turn then." She called cheerfully as she landed on the ground at the base of the tree. The masked ANBU followed her out into the centre, standing three metres away from her. She sighed, feigning annoyance at his actions, while calculating his stance and possible fighting style. He was ANBU after all, they were tricky people. He made the first move, unsheathing the short katana strapped across his back. Yumi put on a bored expression, rubbing the back of her neck as she watched him advance on her. Even if she hadn't been watching him she would have known where he was due to the earth style jutsu she had subtly cast when she had come down from the tree. She knew where everyone touching the training ground dirt, or trees in the training ground, were.

Closing her eyes she side-stepped his katana, pretending that it had been a close call. Keeping her eyes closed she concentrated on his footing and sensing the motion of his katana through the air near her body. Holding her hands behind her back she ducked and dodged his sword, and she could tell he was getting annoyed at her actions. When her back was facing the others she signed for her clone to leave the tree. When she sensed it move her eyes snapped open and she dived forward, planting a strong kick in the man's gut which sent him to his knees. While he was distracted she switched places with her clone, it standing in front of the ANBU man with the real Yumi moving behind him. After sharing a quick glance over his head the clone kept the man distracted, aiming kicks and punches at the man and preventing him from taking notice that there was currently two of her.

The real Yumi launched into a complicated series of hand signs, preparing to perform a jutsu which she barely ever used. The masked ANBU was fighting her clone furiously, apparently trying to get back at her for taking him lightly. He even slashed the tie holding her clone's hair in place. The clone Yumi narrowed her cold blue eyes at the man as her long hair fell down on her back. He blinked behind the mask, surprised. He still hadn't noticed that she was a clone, but it wasn't surprising since the clone already had a cut on one arm and hadn't disappeared like one of Naruto's dumb shadow clones. Taking a deep breath the real Yumi took several steps towards the ANBU, closing some of the distance between them. Holding her arms out in front of her body she stared at the ANBU's back with uncaring eyes.

"Wood style: Silent strangulation jutsu." She whispered as her arms changed, shooting wooden tendrils out which wrapped around the ANBU member. Her clone skipped back out of the way, grinning at the masked man as he struggled, trying to turn around.

"Hey, hey, maybe we should actually kill him, just to say we did." Her clone begged, a malicious smile on her face. Yumi rolled her eyes, bringing the ANBU around to face her.

"Don't be so eager, if we did that they would just kick us out again." She pointed out, making the clones face drop. The clone folded her arms across her chest and pouted, putting on a begging look. Yumi laughed before turning her attention to the frantic man she was currently holding off the ground.

"Game over?" She spun it into a question, wanting to hear him give up rather than deciding it on her own. Before the masked man could say anything Yamato had jumped out in front of her.

"Yes, the match is over. Let him down." He told her firmly, acting as though she was a little kid. She pouted like her clone before reluctantly setting the man down and retracting the branches, her arms changing back to how they normally were.

"Jeez, someone's annoyed today." She muttered, retying the headband around her neck. Ignoring the shocked silence that filled the training ground she walked over to her still upset clone, placing a hand on her shoulder and reabsorbing it. Standing up straight she turned and saw the shocked looks on Naruto and Sakura's faces. Sasuke was merely leaning against a tree with his arms folded. He wasn't fazed by it, he had been there the one and only other time she had performed that particular jutsu.

"You're coming with me." Yamato decided, grabbing her arm and disappearing with her before she had a chance to protest.

* * *

><p>-Tsunade's Office-<p>

* * *

><p>Yamato held her by the arm, partially supporting her as she recovered from the unexpected move. Staring at the wood in front of him he raised his fist and knocked several times on the door.<p>

"Come in." Sounded the bored voice of the hokage from inside the room. He pushed the door open, revealing Tsunade surrounded by a small mountain of paperwork, which was she apparently trying to avoid doing.

'_She really doesn't like this job does she?'_ Yumi thought to herself as she saw the fake annoyance on the hokage's face at the interruption.

"What is it?" She demanded, watching them from her seat. Yamato released Yumi and she rubbed her arm absently, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"Hokage-sama, I was doing what you instructed when I discovered something unusual." Yumi glared at him, since it felt like he was insulting her.

"And?" She encouraged, probably hoping for a decent distraction or reason to put off her work.

"This girl, during her test match, she used several wood style techniques." Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise, turning to face the girl.

"How is that even possible?" She demanded, carefully watching Yumi. The girl in question frowned, grabbing a chair from the side of the room and sitting down.

"So THAT'S what you wanted. I thought I was in trouble or something." Yamato's face didn't betray any of his emotions, which annoyed Yumi because she couldn't read him.

"Yumi, an explanation would be helpful." Tsunade pointed out irritably, the teenager's attitude pissing her off.

"My father is a cruel and unusual man. I would have thought that you would have known that better than most Tsunade-sama." The hokage frowned, steepling her fingers and thinking. After a minute's silence she stood up and walked around her desk to stand in front of Yumi. The missing nin from the Sound struggled to keep the glare from her eyes, but even so it was far from a happy look.

"You're telling me that Orochimaru experimented on his own child, his own flesh and blood?" She wanted confirmation of the conclusion she had reached. Yamato's mask slipped and Yumi noted a hint of shock as he processed what Tsunade had just said. It would seem that he hadn't been informed about her life before this particular moment.

"That's exactly right. I must only have been four or five at the time. I can't remember for sure, it was a dark time and I've tried to forget about it. I nearly died because of his stupid experiments. Being as young as I was I didn't even understand what it was for, but I let him do it anyway, because he's my father. Until he encountered him," She pointed at Yamato, "Father had been convinced that I was the only subject that had survived the process. Apparently he was incorrect." She added, glaring at Yamato. She didn't like the thought that someone else shared her special skills.

"I see." Tsunade bit her thumb nail, frowning as she processed the new information.

"Did he experiment on anyone else while you were there?"

"No. I was the only one."

"Well I suppose that's a good thing." Tsunade muttered, leaning back against her desk. "Oh, that's right. Yamato, what have you decided about their skill levels?"

"Oh, yes." He straightened up, having forgotten about the original reason for coming to the hokage's office. "Although the matches were rather quick I would suggest that both of them are definitely strong and intelligent enough to be inducted into the ANBU forces, although I'm not sure how they would feel about it, since they would have to go on ANBU missions as well."

"Hmm… Yumi, what are your thoughts on this?" The teenager leaned back in her seat, looking up at the ceiling as she mulled it over.

"ANBU huh? The extra missions would probably be good training… I assume that our deal would still stand regardless of whether I accept or not?" Tsunade nodded, waiting to hear where the girl was going with it. "Well then, will I get one of those funny masks?" She asked suddenly, shocking both of the adults.

"Masks? Well yes, if you want one." Yumi grinned childishly, eyes showing genuine excitement.

"Secret mission masks right? I'm in then!" Tsunade couldn't help but laugh at Yumi's declaration, finding it ironic that the cold-blooded daughter of her old team-mate could still act so innocent and childish.

"Now that this is settled I want you to talk it over with Sasuke, okay Yumi? I'm sure he wouldn't bother paying attention if anyone else tried to explain the situation to him."

"I understand Tsunade-sama." Yumi climbed to her feet and, after bowing slightly to the hokage, promptly left the room.

"She sure is an odd one." Tsunade breathed, moving to sit behind her desk again, resigning herself to the fact that she had to finish all the paper work as Yamato silently left her office.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys :) That's another chapter up and off my to-do list.**

**Yumi and Sasuke have their own secret code, basically what Yumi was saying to him back up there somewhere was that there was no way they would need to use their enhanced strength - AKA the curse marks - but if the need arose she was giving him permission to use it anyway. Hence the shoulder tapping, since that's where the curse marks are, at the base of their necks/on their shoulders.**

**Also, I'm not all that good at writing fight scenes, so you'll have to forgive it if you don't think it's too good.**

**I've started a new little project, a KankuKiba story. This came around because I was reading too many of them so the pairing just stuck in my mind and I decided I had to write something. It'll be a one-shot, but it may take awhile to finish nonetheless. I've never written anything like it before, so if you do read it when I finish it just keep that in mind, okay? Thanks.**


	19. Choices

**Happy New Year everyone! Have a good 2012**

**Chapter 19: Choices**

Yumi was surprisingly chipper as she walked away from the hokage tower. The fight had been refreshing, for all it hadn't been much of a physical fight. She would still need to have a good spar with someone, preferably Sasuke, to fully make up for the break, but at least she felt better now. As she walked down the street she reached a hand up to the back of her head, taking her hair out of its bun and running a hand through it. The black and blonde strands of hair floated down around her face and she smiled, already wondering what sort of mask she would get for joining the ANBU forces. Anyone else would say she was being overly excitable, but to her joining the Special Forces and getting something as trivial as a mask for disguise felt like a replacement for all the moments of her childhood that she had missed out on due to her unconventional upbringing. Sure, a normal person, upon hearing such a statement, would think she was weird for likening the two things, but no-one would judge her for it, even if it was just due to fear of being beaten up.

"It sure is sunny today." She commented, shading her eyes with her hand as she looked up at the sky. She hadn't noticed it before since there had been other things on her mind.

"Tonight I think I'll watch the stars." It was a good thing that there was a balcony outside the room she was currently sharing with Sakura. Even after several months of travelling with the guys she still hadn't gotten used to the fact that she could see the sky. It wasn't surprising though, with the fact that she had spent most of her life underground. Yumi heard a dog barking and stopped walking, looking over her shoulder to try and find the source. A massive white dog came running over to her, stopping in front of her. Smiling she knelt down and scratched the dog behind its ears, mind not working as fast as it normally would have.

"Hey Akamaru, buddy, where'd you run off too?" Yumi froze at the sound of the voice, tensing with her hand clenched in the dog's fur as footsteps sounded behind her.

"There you are! Hey, sorry if he bugged you." The footsteps came closer and Yumi unclenched her hand as Akamaru licked her cheek. She smiled sadly, patting his head softly.

"Don't do that." She whispered to him half-heartedly, not even caring when the dog ignored her.

"Hey Akamaru what's gotten into you? Don't do that." Akamaru whined but stepped back, Yumi's hand slipping off his head. Standing up she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, not looking at the boy who had claimed Akamaru. She knew who it was, she didn't need sight to confirm it.

"Sorry." She mumbled, not really sure why she was apologising.

"He doesn't normally do this." He tried to reassure her, mistakenly thinking that she was annoyed. "Have you met him before? Because that would explain it if that was the case." Yumi looked up in shock, meeting Kiba's eyes for the first time in many years. He held her gaze for a minute, before his eyes moved down to the headband around her neck.

"Oh, it is you." He murmured. "I thought you smelt familiar." She blushed in embarrassment, curious to know how he could remember what she smelt like after three years apart.

"Who did you have to fight?" She asked suddenly, breaking the awkward silence. She had to know, even if she didn't want to talk about it.

"Some weird guy with two heads who turned out to be two people." She blinked, not really having expected him to answer her in such a straightforward manner. He could have at least yelled or ranted for a bit first. It was just like with Choji; he just accepted it and moved on. She decided then and there that she really would never ever understand boys.

"Oh. So you killed Sakon and Ukon?" Kiba shook his head, patting Akamaru as they talked.

"No. It was almost the opposite in fact. The two of us were pretty badly injured at the time, he had us beat." She closed her eyes. She knew it had been too good to be true. They hadn't really been strong enough to go up against the Sound Four. Kiba and Akamaru had nearly died, Naruto had been unconscious when she had left him, she wasn't sure what had happened to Choji, but it couldn't have been good. Still, she had to know who finished them off in the end.

"If you didn't kill them then who did?" She pressed him, looking down at Akamaru instead of at Kiba.

"Kankuro did. As much as I hate to admit it, he saved us." Yumi tugged on a blonde streaked strand of hair, still avoiding his gaze.

"If I knew who that was I would thank them." She mumbled quietly, but not quietly enough to stop Kiba from hearing her.

"Thank him for what?" She cringed, blushing again.

"I… Uh… Well, I couldn't have Akamaru dying on me now could I?" She finally retorted, leaning down and giving the dog a big hug. Kiba started laughing and she glared at him as she straightened up. "What is so fucking funny?" She yelled, startling him with her foul language. She clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes widening in shock as she processed what she had just said. "Sorry." She whispered again. He smirked, shaking his head.

"Nah it's alright." He ran a hand through his spikey brown hair. "I just thought it was funny that you were pinning everything on Akamaru. I guess you care about him more than you care about me." She was going to protest but she caught his toothy grin and stopped the words before they left her mouth, hitting him in the arm instead.

"That's right, tease the animal lover." She grinned too, pushing her hair out of her face. "What do you say Akamaru? You should leave Kiba and come with me instead." Akamaru looked between her and Kiba before shuffling a little bit closer to the boy's legs. "Aw man, rejected." Kiba laughed again and she flicked him.

"You can't steal him, but I suppose you can borrow him occasionally." She rolled her eyes, stepping back with her hands behind her back. She had just remembered that she still had something to do.

"That sounds cool. Sorry, but I have to go now." Giving him a quick wave she sprinted towards the training ground, somehow managing to avoid running into anyone on her way there. Luck wasn't exactly on her side, they were gone. Just as she was about to leave she noticed that there were other people now using the ground.

People in creepy green jumpsuits.

A closer look confirmed her fears. The taller one seemed to have noticed her presence and paused the training.

"Look Lee, you might have a new training partner!" He cried, pointing at her. Lee turned to her and his face lit up, not with recognition but with excitement.

"Oh for the love of Jashin, you're that guy with the bushy eyebrows!" She yelled back at them, taking a step back.

"I have not seen you around before. Are you here to join in our youthful training?" Lee asked curiously. Yumi shook her head, taking another step back as she did so.

"No, sorry. I was just looking for Naruto, but apparently he isn't here anymore, so I'll leave you guys to it." With that she ran for it. The older man turned to Lee.

"Do you know her?" He asked, thinking that the girl had seemed to know Lee.

"No I do not Gai-sensei, but it was a shame she did not wish to join us."

"A shame indeed Lee." The two odd-balls in their green jumpsuits went back to their training.

After her unwanted run-in with Rock Lee and his teacher Yumi continued her search. Knowing Naruto she figured that it was a safe bet to check Ichiraku's before going anywhere else, so that's where she headed next. It was a close call too, as Sasuke was about to leave when she walked inside.

"You're back." He commented, drawing Naruto's attention. Contrary to Sasuke Naruto had no intention of leaving soon. In fact Yumi had a feeling that he would stay and eat ramen forever if someone gave him the chance.

"Where did you go?" The spikey haired blonde asked her, taking a short break from eating. "Sakura was frantic, she went to look for you." Yumi glanced at him, not caring much for what he had to say.

"Right, I'll see her at home later." Grabbing Sasuke's wrist she pulled him outside, dragging him along until she found somewhere private to talk.

"What?" His voice was demanding, but inside he was just glad to be away from Naruto for a time. It was bad enough that he was being forced to stay with the hyperactive blonde, he didn't need to be around him all day as well.

"I assume you know what the deal was today?" He nodded, leaning back against the fence and waiting for her to continue. "Right well, you have a choice. You can either join the ranks of the ANBU, or you can become an official Jounin." He was silent for a while. She sighed in irritation, moving to lean against the fence next to him.

"What did you choose?" He asked quietly. She cringed.

"ANBU. I figured that they might be able to teach us something that would give us an edge against the Akatsuki." That was only half the truth. She hadn't been thinking strategically at all when she had accepted, she just thought it would be cooler to be a part of the ANBU than it would be to be a jounin.

"That's a good point." Yumi turned and stared at him. Had he just complimented her? Well, it wasn't exactly a compliment, but it was still a rare occurrence. "I guess I'll pick the ANBU too then." Her mouth dropped open slightly as he voiced his decision. He was just doing what she was doing! Yumi frowned. _I know what he's doing. He's letting me make the decisions, so that if something goes wrong then he can blame me for it! Sneaky bastard. But then again, I would probably do the same thing if I had the chance._

"Should we tell Tsunade-sama then?" The dark haired teen shook his head.

"Don't bother, she probably predicted this outcome anyway."

"Oh, that's true." She bit her lip, thinking. "Do you want to go spar or something?"

"Not today. I'm going to take advantage of this to try and avoid Naruto for as long as I can." Yumi pouted, turning it into a grin when she saw the look on his face.

"Well have fun with that." Turning around she walked off, leaving Sasuke to his impossible task. Naruto had been with him practically every second since they had left the hospital, she couldn't see him staying away for long now. It was still too soon, he was probably secretly worried that the two of them would get up and disappear again.

"Now what do I do?" She asked herself as she wandered the village. What she wanted to do was train, but she didn't know who she could train with other than Rock Lee, and she didn't really want to go there. After 3 years she thought he might have ditched the jumpsuit, but that wasn't the case.

* * *

><p>Standing on the cliff overlooking the village Yumi watched people walking the streets. It was peaceful up there, although she wasn't sure exactly how she had ended up there in the first place. The area was also nostalgic, although she supposed it was for all the wrong reasons. It was after all where they had left from when they escaped the village. Her eyes lost their happy look, returning to the guarded detachment she had always shown. She now had the freedom to be herself, but it was now that she felt the least like doing it. To her it didn't feel right to be so carefree, THEY shouldn't be so carefree.<p>

"It's not just boys after all. I don't understand anyone." Clenching her fists at her sides she looked past the village, out over the forest. "I don't understand Akihiko and Touma, I don't understand Sakura, I don't understand Choji and Kiba, and I definitely don't understand Tsunade-sama." Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly, relaxing her hands and sitting down on the edge of the cliff.

* * *

><p>Yumi spent the rest of the day sitting up there, watching the sun move across the sky as she dangled her legs over the edge. In her mind she was running through all the things her father may have mentioned in passing about the members of the Akatsuki. The one that he had known the most about, Sasori of the red sand, was already dead, so there was no need to worry about him anymore. That was a problem though. The person who had replaced Orochimaru for instance, that person they knew absolutely nothing about.<p>

"The zombie duo." She muttered, thinking out loud. "The money obsessed and the religious fanatic. They'll show up sooner or later on their own, so I don't need to worry about it too much. It's the others we'll have to be more proactive about finding." She stretched her arms out in front of her and lay back on the ground.

It wasn't until the sun had set that her stomach began to beg for food, eventually drawing her back to Sakura's place and away from the peace and quiet of her little escape.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The ending is sort of bad, and for that I apologise, but I just wasn't really sure what to do with it.**

**Anyway, thanks to all you people who have been reviewing and favouriting the story and such, it makes me happy :) **

**I have a question for you readers. IF I decide to let there be a little romance in the story, who would you want Yumi to end up with? My friend wants her to be with Sasuke, but what about everyone else? Chuck your choice in a review or PM me, whatever you want.**


	20. First Mission

**Chapter 20: First Mission**

One Week Later

The wolf masked warrior ducked under a high kick, spinning and launching her own kick, knocking her opponent to the ground. Without missing a beat she straightened up, drawing the katana from her back and holding the blade against the neck of the eagle masked fighter. The fighter on the ground held her hands up in submission. Withdrawing the blade the wolf reached out a hand to help up her opponent, but the eagle refused, getting up by herself.

'_They really still don't trust me.'_ The wolf thought to herself, starting to feel depressed again. As she re-sheathed her katana a hand momentarily alighted on her shoulder. Turning around she found herself face to face with a cat mask.

"The hokage wishes to speak with you." He told her monotonously.

"Oh, alright." She murmured, but he was already gone. Frowning behind her mask she disappeared, reappearing in the hallway outside Tsunade's office. She had learnt from experience that the hokage didn't really like it when people entered her office through windows and such, so she made a point to always use the door.

Standing up she knocked once on the wooden door.

"Come in." Tsunade called out to her, sounding as bored as ever. The wolf pushed open the door and moved to stand in front of the desk, watching the hokage from behind her mask.

"You called for me Tsunade-sama?" The hokage set down her cup, watching as the masked ANBU stood in front of her.

"So I did. Yumi I have a mission for you. I want you to lead a group of shinobi on a B-rank rescue mission. Their squad leader is currently unavailable for it, so I figured you might want a chance to get out of the village and picked you as his replacement."

"B-rank huh?" Tsunade nodded.

"It's a precaution, rating it that. In reality it's probably only a C-rank, but we don't know anything about the kidnappers. They were reported to be bandits, but you know how little that really means. I'm sure it won't be too much trouble, and you might even be able to pick up some information on the Akatsuki while you're out of the village."

"So it's just a straightforward rescue. I suppose it has the normal 'if you're in extreme peril retreat immediately' tag on it as well?" Yumi questioned, fighting the urge to cross her arms.

"That it does. And before you ask, you leave in an hour, so be at the entrance to the village an hour from now to meet your team." Yumi nodded, dismissing herself and walking out of the office before disappearing again.

* * *

><p>Standing in her apartment Yumi threw her mask on her bed. It had taken a little while, but she had managed to get her own place so she no longer had to live with Sakura. Yumi liked her privacy, so she had been rather on edge while staying with the older girl. So far her stuff was organised and her apartment was tidy, but she knew it would never last.<p>

"Wait, I forgot to ask how long we would be gone for…" She shrugged. In the end it was up to her how long it would take. Searching her room she quickly pulled together what she would need for the mission: weapons, a blanket, food, emergency food in case something happened or someone was stupid enough to forget that they would need to eat, and a spare set of clothes in case she fell in a river or something.

Walking over to her mirror she scrutinised her uniform. It wasn't really the nicest thing in the world, so she unstrapped her katana, throwing it onto the bed along with her mask so that she could change. She ditched her ANBU uniform for her normal clothes; long-sleeved mesh undershirt, a tank top (dark blue this time instead of purple), her black knee-length shorts, and her knee-high boots. Glancing in the mirror again she let her hair out of its bun only to tie it up in a ponytail. It would only get in the way if she left it out.

Satisfied she grabbed her leg pouch, positioning it on her right leg, before grabbing her katana and strapping it across her back once more. Picking up her headbands she tied the Leaf one around her forehead and her Sound one around her neck. People thought she was weird already, and she liked standing out, so she continued to wear her second headband. After all, it was still a part of her life.

She stood up, stretching her arms high above her head, before slinging her bag over her shoulder. Checking the door was locked she stepped out into the street, opting to walk since she still had some time to kill and her apartment was fairly close in the first place.

* * *

><p>When she reached the entrance she was still 10 minutes early, but three people her own age were already there waiting. Biting back an irritated groan she walked forward to stand in front of them, waiting until they were all watching her.<p>

"Okay, I'm going to be leading this mission." Yumi began, examining them as she spoke. "My name is Yumi Furude, but I don't care what you call me." The team before her consisted of two boys and a girl, which seemed to be the most common gender mix in all the teams she had seen around the village. One of the boys seemed pretty familiar, although that may just have been because he somehow reminded her of Naruto.

"Umm… Yumi-sensei, can I ask a question?" The girl asked, startling Yumi with how she addressed her.

"What? Oh yeah, sure. Just for the record, maybe I do care what you call me. It feels weird if you call me sensei, so please don't."

"Okay. Anyway I was just wondering, how old are you?" Yumi gave the girl a curious look, wondering why she was bothering to ask.

"I'm 14, although I'm not sure why it matters. Anyway I don't know you guys so, before we go, why don't you introduce yourselves?" The three of them nodded before engaging in a game of rock-paper-scissors to find out who was going to go first. The kid who seemed like Naruto stepped forward.

"I'm Konohamaru, and one day I'll be the hokage!" Yumi cringed, remembering Konohamaru from the academy. In fact, he was the last person from the academy she had seen before leaving.

"Really? I thought Naruto was going to be hokage?" She pointed out. Konohamaru just smiled at her.

"Yeah, but I'll be hokage after him."

"Well I guess that works…" She turned to the other two, indicating that they could continue with the introductions.

"My name is Moegi." That was the girl who had asked how old Yumi was.

"I'm Udon." Yumi had to resist the urge to laugh, the kids had the strangest names.

"Alright then, Team Ebisu is heading out." With that the four of them left the village.

* * *

><p>The four of them travelled in complete silence for the most part, with Yumi thinking about the mission details and strategizing in her head and the three slightly younger shinobi just following her lead and not talking. Konohamaru was the first to break the silence, coming up to run along next to Yumi.<p>

"Hey, do I know you from somewhere?" He asked, breaking Yumi out of her daze.

"Maybe." Was her simple reply, not even bothering to look at him when she said it.

"That's not very helpful." He complained. "Oh, I know! I'll just ask Naruto when we get back to the village!" He seemed rather proud of himself for coming to that conclusion.

"What makes you think Naruto can tell you anything?" She asked, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Because he knows everything!" Yumi started laughing, nearly falling out of a tree as she lost her concentration. "What's so funny?"

"No, it's nothing." She assured him, stopping and looking around. "Okay, we'll stop here for the night, sound good to you guys?" The all agreed, so they set up in the clearing. Yumi was tempted to use one of her wood style ninjutsu to just make somewhere to sleep, but that would be spoiling them AND revealing too much about herself. When everyone was settled she gathered them around the small fire they had used to make their dinner.

"So what do you guys know about this mission?" Konohamaru was silent for a moment before speaking up.

"It's a rescue mission!" Yumi rolled her eyes.

"That's correct. Anything else?" No-one said anything and she mentally facepalmed. They obviously hadn't been paying much attention when they were debriefed. "Okay this time you have to listen, understand?"

"We understand." They chorused, making her cringe. She really preferred dealing with adults over children.

"The mission is to rescue a small group of children who have been kidnapped by bandits in the Land of Waves. We don't know anything about the bandits, but I have a feeling that it won't be hard to find them. Once we rescue them we escort them back home and that's it, mission over. Do you follow?" Konohamaru nodded eagerly, but it seemed like Udon was sleeping sitting up. She seriously doubted the group's capability, resigning herself to the fact that she was most likely going to have to do most of the work on her own.

"Why do you have two headbands?" Moegi asked suddenly, startling Yumi. That girl was just full of strange and pointless questions.

"That's really none of your business." She snapped, surprised at how harsh it sounded when the words left her mouth. But really, they were pretty sheltered if they didn't know anything.

"Sorry." Moegi hung her head apologetically.

"Urg never mind, just go to bed. I'll keep watch." The three younger shinobi reluctantly did as she said, leaving Yumi alone with her thoughts. She stayed awake for the first half of the night, enlisting Kara's help later on so that she could get some rest without having to wake up one of the others to take over. Kara kept watch and woke Yumi up just before sunrise, giving her enough time to properly wake herself up before Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi got up. Nothing had happened over the course of the night, which she supposed was a good thing.

* * *

><p>When the sun was up and the rest of the team still weren't awake Yumi started getting impatient. Climbing to her feet she walked over to the sleeping genin, concentrating chakra into her finger and poking them. The miniscule influx of foreign chakra was enough to get them up, and after a hurried breakfast they left the clearing, continuing on towards their destination.<p>

They reached the border to the Land of Waves after around 2 and a half hours. Yumi spent a good few minutes staring at the plaque on the bridge, trying to convince herself that it wasn't really called The Great Naruto Bridge. It sounded ridiculous, and more than that, why was it named after Naruto? Konohamaru flicked her and told her to get over it, eager to finish the mission so he could question Naruto about the origins of their mission leader.

"Don't tell me what to do Konohamaru." She reprimanded lightly, glad that he had taken her attention away from the bridge. "Let's go then." The group of Leaf shinobi crossed the bridge in silence, as was Yumi's preferred travel. Silent. It made it easier to think and predict things. She kept an eye on anyone they passed on the bridge, only relaxing once they made it to the other side.

"Where do we go now?" Moegi asked when they stopped.

"That's a good question. Let me scout the area." Without waiting for an answer Yumi ran off, leaping up into a tall tree and contracting a few birds to help her check the land. Making sure that she was secure in the tree she took over the bird, controlling its eyes and encouraging it to fly in a certain direction. After it had been flying for a while the bird came across a massive cave which Yumi thought looked suspicious. Getting the bird to land she stood up, transporting herself to where the bird was in a tree outside the cave. She could sense the presence of several people and decided it would be a good place to check out with the others. Checking that no-one was watching she returned to where the others were waiting.

"Okay, let's go this way." Yumi pointed in the direction she had just returned from. "By the way, good job for staying put when I left." She threw in as an afterthought as she took to the trees again. The genin followed obediently, not bothering to question her.

* * *

><p>-In the Leaf-<p>

* * *

><p>"Damn! She got a mission and I'm still stuck here in the village." Sasuke was taking a break from training out in the grounds. The ANBU weren't interested in sparring with him at the moment, so he had been forced to spar with Naruto. True, the kid was strong, but he was annoying, and that pretty much outweighed any positives.<p>

"What are you mumbling about?" The blonde in question asked curiously. Sasuke just glared at him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: 2 chapters up today, though that's not really surprising since I have nothing better to do :P**


	21. Encounter with the Akatsuki

**Chapter 21: Encounter with the Akatsuki**

"So can you all see the cave?" Yumi asked as the four of them waited up in a tree a short distance away from the cave she had visited earlier. The three genin nodded, starting to show their nerves for the first time. They were actually worried. She frowned, wondering once again why Tsunade would have sent this particular team on a B-rank mission, even if it was really on a C-rank like she suspected it was.

"Are you sure there are people in there?" Konohamaru asked, getting impatient. It was a bad mix, impatience and nervousness. He was going to be reckless like Naruto, that was for sure.

"Yes I'm sure. Have a little faith in my skills yeah?" He looked sceptical but fell silent once more, allowing Yumi to return her focus to tracking the people inside. There were three people moving around, so there were about 3 bandits, although whether that was all of them or some were out at the moment she didn't know. Still, three against four was pretty good odds.

"Hey, you three go and hide behind that rock." She said, pointing to a massive boulder just outside the entrance to the cave. "I'll create a distraction, keep them occupied, while you check out the cave. If you find them then get them out, you know the drill."

"Will you be alright on your own?" Moegi looked even more nervous than Konohamaru. Yumi smiled reassuringly at the girl.

"I'll be fine. I may not look it, but I'm a jounin." That was technically true. She wasn't about to tell them she was ANBU. Team Ebisu had a short silent conversation before doing what she told them. When they were in position she jumped from the tree and walked up to the entrance. Reaching into her leg pouch she pulled out a kunai and attached a paper bomb to it before holding it behind her back. Taking a deep breath she cupped her mouth with one hand.

"Holy crap that tree's on fire!" She shouted at the top of her voice, throwing the kunai behind her at the base of a tree and flinching when it exploded, making a burnt hole. The footsteps came closer, followed by voices, and she danced back out of the way, jumping up into the tree.

"What the hell was that?" Someone demanded, coming out into the open and looking around. He was soon followed by two other men and Yumi signalled for the genin to head inside.

"Nothing's on fire." One of them pointed out.

"Yeah, but what the hell happened to that tree?" The third one asked, pointing to the smoking hole. The three of them walked over to it and Yumi jumped down, landing silently behind them.

"This is just too easy." She muttered to herself. "Definitely C-rank." Making some hand signs she held her hands out in front of her.

"Sublime snake hands." She whispered, smirking as the snakes shot out and wrapped themselves around the bandits. They freaked out, struggling and squirming, begging for mercy. They really were just gutless men, not an ounce of bravery in them. As they struggled against the snakes Yumi reached into her bag and pulled out a length of wire. One of them had passed out, he was probably afraid of snakes. She tied them up, making sure it was tight and secure before dispelling her jutsu and getting rid of the snakes.

"Did you guys find anything?" She called towards the cave, keeping one eye on the men while she sat down on the ground. She sensed someone coming closer and waited.

"We found them, but it's sort of complicated." Moegi explained as she stood beside Yumi. Yumi groaned, it had been going so well.

"Fine, I'll go have a look, but that means you have to keep watch on them. Can you do that Moegi?" The younger girl looked at the men and nodded. That sorted Yumi ran inside after Konohamaru and Udon. What she found was far from what she had expected.

"Yumi!"

"What? Konohamaru, what happened to the bridge?" She called back, glancing over the edge of the crevice and seeing the remains of shoddy bridge. The cave was more elaborate than she would have thought, but that didn't matter for now.

"Well, it broke."

"I can see that! Where's Udon?" Konohamaru peered over the edge.

"He was on the bridge when it broke."

"Yay." Yumi muttered sarcastically. She altered one of her wood style ninjutsu in order to create a temporary bridge for Konohamaru and the rest of them to cross. "You get them outside and stay with Moegi, I'll go and look for Udon, you got that?" He nodded once, ushering the people they had found across the bridge first before following them.

"You better find him!" Konohamaru yelled before running outside. Yumi ground her teeth together, sending chakra to her feet in preparation for scaling the side of the crevice. It was dark at the bottom; she could barely make out different shades of black. She could sense Udon's presence, but it was a small distance away and she didn't want to leave the wall for fear of getting lost herself. Solution? Wood clone. Leaning her back against the wall of the crevice she sped through the hand signs required for her wood clones.

"Go and retrieve Udon." She instructed, sending the clone in the direction she could sense him in. She sank to a sitting position on the ground, keeping her back against the wall as she clenched her pendant in her hand. Closing her eyes against the fluctuating shades of black she concentrated her mind on guiding her clone. It wasn't long before she heard a cry of shock and received a confirmation from the clone that Udon had been found. Letting out a long breath she waited as the two of them found their way back to her.

"Hey… Please put me down." Udon mumbled, alerting Yumi to his proximity. She had the clone set him down right in front of her before dispelling it. Opening her eyes she reached out, gently resting her hand on the young boy's shoulder.

"Who's there?" He asked, fear leaking into his voice.

"Relax, it's just me." She tried to talk soothingly, but that wasn't something she was good at doing.

"Oh." She climbed to her feet, keeping one hand on Udon's shoulder and one hand on the wall.

"Tell me, how good is your chakra control?" She asked seriously, trying hopelessly to actually see the person standing in front of her.

"Umm…" She sighed, turning around. It was her job to protect them, so she had to make sure he got back to the village safely.

"This is going to be a bit awkward, but I need you to get on my back. That's the only way I'll be able to get you back up to the top of the crevice." She bent her knees, crouching down with one hand resting against the wall for guidance.

"Okay…" She felt a weight on her back and she waited until he settled himself, feeling him wrap his arms tentatively around her neck.

"Whatever you do, don't let go." She warned before channelling chakra to her hands and feet for the climb. If she didn't have to carry him then she would have walked back up, but this time she would have to climb. It was slow going, with Yumi checking her footing constantly to make sure that she wouldn't slip. If she scared Udon he would probably let go, and keeping that in mind she pulled the two of them up, finally reaching the top and collapsing on the flat ground of the cave.

"Okay, NOW you can get off." She panted, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt his weight leave. Yumi lay on the ground for a minute, letting her chakra stabilise and her energy return. She could at least see properly now, which was a relief on her eyes which had struggled to cope with the intense darkness.

"That's enough lazing around." She told herself, getting to her feet and glancing at Udon, vaguely surprised to see that he hadn't run off yet. Motioning to him to follow she walked off towards the entrance of the cave. When the two of them stepped outside they were tackled by Konohamaru. Yumi managed to sidestep it, leaving Udon to deal with the over excitable boy.

"What do we do now?" Moegi asked cautiously, eying the men tied up at the base of the tree.

"Huh, that's a good point." Yumi murmured as she walked over to kneel in front of the two young boys they had rescued. "The mission details only involved the rescue and not the capture of those responsible… What do you guys think? If need be I can just drag them to the village and let them handle the punishment."

"Well we can't just leave them here." Konohamaru said pointedly, dragging Udon over to join the group.

"You have a point." She straightened up, doing the all too familiar hand signs before creating another wood clone. "Let's take them with us then." She handed the bandits into the care of her clone before facing the rest of the group.

"Where is the village?"

"Uhh…" Yumi took her bag off her back, placing it at her feet as she rummaged around in it. Seeing the looks on the faces of the boys they had rescued she gave them some food from her emergency rations before finally pulling out a map and spreading it out on the ground in front of her.

"Let's see… The Land of Fire is there… That's the bridge… Then we went this way…" She dragged her finger across the map, picturing their journey in her head. "So we should be about here." She tapped the map twice before hovering over it.

"We're lost aren't we?"

"No we are not!" Yumi climbed to her feet. "The village is that way." She pointed past the cave. "We just have to find the road and then it'll be easy going." She rolled the map up and put it back in her bag, moving her katana so that it was strapped around her waist instead of across her back.

"Are we going home now?" One of the boys asked hesitantly from where he was sitting on the ground. Yumi nodded, smiling, as she held out a hand to him.

"Are you good to walk, or do you want me to carry you?" She asked, keeping her voice light and friendly. The boy was quiet as he took her hand and pulled himself to his feet. He stumbled, a look of pain crossing his face. Yumi sighed, steadying him with one hand.

"Alright, that decides it. Get on my back, I'll carry you." The boy seemed a bit embarrassed, but complied anyway. She gave her bag to her clone to carry before making sure that he was safe on her back. "What's your name anyway kid?"

"Natsuno."

"Alright Natsuno, I'm Yumi, nice to meet you." Motioning with her head she got everyone sorted, watching closely as her clone grabbed the end of the wire tying the men together, threatening to actually drag them if they wouldn't walk. With that sorted the group headed off in the direction of the town, hoping to find the road quickly to ensure they were going the right way.

It didn't take long for them to find the road, which they took to walking down. The genin needed a break from the trees and the other boy, Kazushi, wouldn't have coped with that in the first place. Yumi helped her clone keep an eye on the bandits while at the same time looking after Natsuno. They didn't talk, but the rest were particularly talkative. She would have scolded them and said that they were giving away their position to the enemy, but she had forced them to be silent for the last day and they deserved a chance to talk. Honestly she never would have guessed that she would take pity on kids like them, but even if only for today she decided to be nice to them.

* * *

><p>They had been walking for a little over an hour when Yumi heard someone in the trees. Spinning she launched a kunai in the direction of the noise, tensing when she heard a clash of metal and saw the kunai fall uselessly to the ground. The genin froze before making a circle around Kazushi.<p>

"Who's there?" She demanded, watching the trees. There was a rustle of leaves before a cloaked figure dropped to the ground in front of her. They had long blonde hair, half of it tied back while half of it hung over the left side of their face. The figure appeared to be rather feminine, but even so it was definitely a guy. The cloak immediately sparked recognition in her mind, but she stood firm, carefully lowering Natsuno to the ground and signing for Konohamaru and Udon to help him. The blonde watched her almost curiously, but for the most part she pretended that she wasn't paying attention.

"You guys keep going. Make sure you get Natsuno and Kazushi back to the village." She instructed, straightening up and hanging her hand next to her leg pouch, trying to act laid back.

"Is it someone you know?" Konohamaru wondered, looking between the two older teenagers.

"Something like that." She muttered in response, making shooing motions with her hand and staring pointedly at them until they left. Once they were out of sight she turned back to the blonde who was surprisingly still there, seemingly waiting for an explanation.

"So…" She began, resting a hand on the hilt of her short sword. "I hear Sasori no Akasuna is dead." The blonde stiffened at the mention of the name and she knew that she had hit a nerve. "My father was almost sad when he heard the news. Almost."

"Who are you?" He demanded, one hand inside one of the pouches at his waist.

"Hey now, don't be so hasty. We can make this work for both of us. You tell me your name and I'll tell you mine. You answer my question I'll answer yours. Deal?"

"That depends what you want to know, un." Yumi just stared at him, eyes completely emotionless yet at the same time earnest, showing that she had no intent to deceive him. "Deidara." He said finally, a tinge of irritation showing in his voice.

"Deidara huh?" Just as she had thought, the name didn't ring any bells. "I'm Yumi. I would say that it's nice to meet you, but that wouldn't really be appropriate considering the situation."

"What do you want anyway, un?" He asked, hand still resting in that pouch so she couldn't tell what he was doing. That wasn't important though.

"Itachi, is he still partnered with that blue guy, Kisame?" His blue eye widened at the mention of the names.

"Yes, what's it to you, un?"

"Is that your question?" He was silent before shaking his head. It was a pointless thing to ask, it wasn't like he really cared.

"You have two headbands, un. How'd you manage to get accepted in another village?" Yumi smiled slightly, the smile not reaching her eyes. Of course he asked about that, everyone asked about it in one way or another.

"I have information and skill, what better way to be accepted? The hokage still doesn't really trust me, at least I don't think she does, but as long as I'm willing to give her information on my father then I'm welcome there."

"Your father, un?" Yumi shook her head.

"Oh no you don't, that was one question. My turn again. Show me your hands; I want to know what's so special about that pouch." Deidara stared at her. He didn't want to, but he was curious as to who her father was that information on him would be in such high demand.

"Fine, un." He pulled his hand from his pocket and held them both towards her, palms facing her. Yumi's eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of the mouths on his hands but otherwise she showed no sign of any emotion. It actually piqued her interest a bit, but she didn't want to ask too many questions in case he got annoyed and decided to attack her instead.

"That's… different." She admitted, watching his hands with interest. "Your turn again."

"Who is your father, un?" Yumi sighed, she had only half been expecting that particular line of questioning.

"Orochimaru, the previous partner of one Sasori no Akasuna." Deidara tensed again at the mention of Sasori, so Yumi was almost certain that he had been the puppet master's partner at the time of his death.

"Why did you choose to go to another hidden village, un? If you had been a missing nin for a while you probably would have been picked up by the Akatsuki eventually."

"Was that another question I just heard? Greedy." She laughed, shocking the blonde shinobi. "Even so I'll answer that one for free. It wasn't a conscious choice, not really. I didn't choose to go to the village, but once I was there it was really either join them or be killed for my previous crimes against them."

"You're strange, un."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment." She glanced up, noting the sun had moved a bit and her team was probably getting worried again. "I should get going. Also, I don't care if you tell Leader-sama about this talk. It doesn't bother me if you tell him or not." With that as her farewell she turned, sprinting down the road towards the village where she had sent the others.

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><p><strong>AN: Soo... She wanted information and that's what she got, but why ask such seemingly pointless questions?**

**Thanks for the reviews everyone, next chapter will be up as soon as I get around to writing it, which should hopefully be sooner rather than later.**


	22. Changing Personalities

**Chapter 22: Changing Personalities**

Yumi was lost in thought as she, Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon made their way back to the Leaf. The villagers had been thankful to have Natsuno and Kazushi back, and having the bandits was an added bonus. She was pretty sure that they were going to deliver some harsh punishment, so it was a good thing they had left pretty much as soon as they had arrived. She had given the genin permission to talk as much as they wanted on the trip back so that they would have something to distract them from her own pensive silence.

They were only a few hours away from the Leaf when they encountered a group of Leaf shinobi headed in the opposite direction.

"Naruto!" Konohamaru called happily, running over to the blonde. It was short-lived happiness though, as he realised that he wouldn't get the chance to question him about me. Taking my gaze off the two immature boys I turned to see who else was with him.

"Naruto, Sakura, Yamato. Heading out on a mission?" Yumi asked, staring pointedly at the other boy with them. He was the one from the Sasori incident who had used the ninja art technique. She really didn't like him.

"Yeah." Naruto jumped over to her, Konohamaru following close behind. "Sasuke was pretty annoyed because he didn't have anyone left to train with."

"Why doesn't he just train with the other ANBU? Not that it matters in the end, I'll train with him tomorrow if he's as depressed as you say he is." The pale skinned boy walked over to her.

"I never said he was depressed." Naruto commented. She shook her head, a knowing expression on her face.

"Believe me, he's DEFINITELY depressed. He always gets depressed when I can't train with him. It might have been different while you were around, but now that you're gone…" The boy who she didn't know made it clear that he wanted to say something, so she turned to him, hands on hips, and waited.

"My name is Sai." Yumi stared at him with one eyebrow raised.

"I honestly don't care." She pointed out bluntly before gathering her genin team and leaving the others behind.

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked, truly confused for once. Sakura rolled her eyes before starting off again at the command of Yamato who was once again team captain in the absence of Kakashi, who was on a mission by himself.

"Come on guys; let's really move so we can get back sooner, yeah?" The three genin nodded enthusiastically, increasing their speed for the remainder of the journey.

* * *

><p>Two hours later the four of them arrived in the village. The last leg of the trip had taken more out of the genin than Yumi had expected, so she sent them home and went to give the mission report by herself. The streets of the village were reasonably quiet so she didn't see many people on her way to the hokage tower, but even so she made a point of taking her time to get there. It was only when she got to the bottom of the stairs that she decided she definitely wasn't going to tell Tsunade anything about her talk with Deidara. The hokage didn't need to know that they had seen any of the Akatsuki, and that was one of the reasons she had sent the rest of the team home, so they wouldn't blow her cover.<p>

Pausing outside the door to the hokage's office Yumi straightened the hem of her top and pulled her fingers through her now loose hair in an attempt to make herself presentable. Pushing her fringe out of her eyes she stifled a yawn before knocking once on the wooden door.

"Enter." Came the usual bored sounding response.

"As welcoming as ever I see." The young girl mumbled to herself before pushing the door open and stepping inside. Tsunade's assistant Shizune was standing next to the desk with that odd pig of hers and was the first to visibly acknowledge her presence, nodding slightly in her direction. Yumi returned the gesture as she approached the hokage, stopping just in front of her desk.

"Oh, I didn't expect you back until tomorrow." Tsunade commented, abandoning her paperwork to give the teenager her full attention. "Where is the rest of your team?"

"They were tired so I sent them home. Surely you don't need to interrogate them about the mission?"

"No, you're right, I don't. So how did it go then?" Yumi stiffened, clasping her hands behind her back and staring directly at the hokage.

"The mission went smoothly. The children were rescued and the village is dealing with those responsible as they see fit. If you'll forgive my saying, I believe you may have been slightly paranoid in giving it a B-rank classification. The bandits were not shinobi and were easily tricked and subdued." Tsunade rested her elbows on her desk, leaning forward.

"You may be right; nonetheless we can't afford to take chances, considering all the incorrectly ranked missions I sent Team 7 on back in the day." She paused and Yumi forced herself to remain as she was, while at the same time storing that little piece of information away in case it became useful sometime in the future.

"Is there anything else you want Tsunade-sama?" She hadn't shown it in front of the genin but she was even more exhausted than they were. She hadn't slept at all the previous night, keeping watch by herself as she was secretly afraid that they were being followed. It had proved to be paranoia, at least she hoped that was the case, but now she was paying the price for not sharing watch duty.

"Oh, there is one thing. Did you hear anything interesting while you were gone?"

"No, I'm afraid I didn't." She replied instantly, without a moment's hesitation to hint at the fact that she was lying. She was skilled in that sort of thing after all.

"I see…" There was silence for a moment in which Yumi was unsure what to do. "Well then you can go. I'll inform you if and when I have another mission for you."

"Yes Tsunade-sama." She bowed her head momentarily before swiftly leaving the room and closing the door behind her. As she walked back down the stairs she yawned again, blushing embarrassedly when one of the people she passed gave her an odd look.

* * *

><p>Finally free from obligations, for the time being anyway, Yumi wandered the streets, passing some of the training grounds as she headed towards her apartment. There was a miniscule shift in the air currents before a kunai embedded itself in the wall next to her head. She pulled it out before turning in the direction it had come from and frowning.<p>

"You're back, good. Come spar with me." Yumi scowled at the dark haired Uchiha, walking to the edge of the training ground before throwing the kunai angrily at his head. He knocked it away with another kunai before it could do any damage, but if it had hit he would have been in serious trouble, it hadn't been a friendly throw.

"Tomorrow." She told him, turning her back on him and starting off down the street again. The next thing she knew she was face down on the ground with a weight on her back and cold metal against her neck.

"Please tell me you did not just do that." Yumi whispered threateningly, rolling onto her back when the weight shifted to find herself staring up into sharingan red eyes. She quickly averted her gaze, only getting more annoyed when she saw the new rips in her shirt from the fall. Meeting his eyes she glared at him only to notice how close they were and quickly turning her head to the side.

"Get off me."

"No, you're avoiding the issue."

"Seriously Sasuke, GET OFF ME!" She demanded angrily, glaring furiously while her face was an embarrassed crimson. He gave her a confused look before realisation flashed across his eyes and he promptly climbed to his feet, not looking at her as she sat up.

"Sorry…" He mumbled, a faint dusting of red on his own face as well.

"Damn, you were never this jumpy back at the base. Has Naruto been messing with your common sense? 'Cause I can beat the crap out of him when he gets back if that's the case." She climbed to her feet slowly, brushing the dust and dirt off her clothes and smoothing her hair down.

"Ah, no… That's not… Sorry." Yumi scrutinised him while he had his back turned. She had never heard him apologise so many times in the same week, let alone in the same day or even to the same person. Something was definitely messing with his head, but she wasn't sure if it was the village or nervous anticipation of what was inevitably coming their way. It was probably the latter.

"Well, I'm going to go and sleep for who knows how long. If I'm not up by this time tomorrow I give you permission to throw me in the lake or something if you're still desperate for a training partner." Turning her back on him once more she finally made it the short distance to her apartment, collapsing on her bed and falling asleep almost instantly, only forcing herself to stay awake long enough to remove her bag and shoes.

* * *

><p>Cold liquid hit her face and she sat up, glaring angrily at the culprit.<p>

"What the hell?" Yumi muttered tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"I couldn't wake you up. Have you always slept so deeply, even back at the base?" Sasuke asked, setting the glass back down on her bedside table. Her gaze drifted passed him and she looked out the window.

"What time is it?" She asked suspiciously.

"About 9am…"

"Dammit Sasuke! I said to give me 24 hours didn't I?" She cried in frustration, throwing a pillow at him. "I'm going back to bed."

"No you're not." He told her, grabbing her wrist and forcing her to stay sitting up. "You have company."

"You don't count." She pointed out bitterly.

"It's not me." He corrected her, motioning to some person she couldn't see.

"I hate you." She mumbled as the three genin walked hesitantly into her bedroom. "Wha-… What brings you guys to my place so early in the morning?"

"Uh… Ebisu-sensei said that we should come and thank you for leading the mission in his absence." Konohamaru explained, shuffling his feet. Yumi yawned loudly, leaning back against the wall to force herself to stay sitting.

"Aw you guys didn't have to come all the way over here for that." _And if that guy really cared he would have had the decency to come and say it himself… Wouldn't he?_

"Ah, well…" Her eyes drifted closed and she fought against the fatigue that was resting in her bones. Sasuke slapped her and she glared at him, ignoring the frightened cry that Moegi let escape her lips.

"I'm awake dammit, what was that for?"

"You are not awake. You three, you were her team right? Was she doing anything odd during the mission?"

"Uhhh…"

"Hey, I know! She wouldn't let us help with keeping watch." Konohamaru pointed out, getting noises of agreement from his teammates.

"How long have you slept for over the last four days?" Sasuke demanded, a serious look in his dark eyes. Yumi shrugged, avoiding his gaze as well as she could.

"About three hours?" She muttered quietly, moving to get out of bed since she was now awake.

"Okay that's it, everyone out." He ushered the genin out the door while blocking the space Yumi had been planning on using to stand up in. "No-one comes back until at least this time tomorrow."

"I thought you wanted to train?" She asked sleepily, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them.

"No it's okay, I was being selfish, I didn't realise how exhausted you were." _Selfish? Wow, am I imagining this?_

"You've been saying a lot of strange stuff since I got back, there must be something in the water." He smirked, turning and walking out of her apartment, shutting the door firmly behind him.

* * *

><p>When Naruto and Sakura arrived back in the village they questioned the two who had stayed behind about what they had missed. At that time the two ex-Sound shinobi developed a pale blush and refused to look at each other, neither one saying a thing.<p>

It was clear to see that Naruto had never been more confused before in his life.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So if you're wondering, yes, I got sort of lost after the mission report, so I chucked in some random stuff. More adventurey stuff next time I think. Maybe anyway :P**


	23. The New Team

**Chapter 23: The New Team**

Yumi and Sasuke were sparring in the ANBU training area. Since their arrival they had caused quite a stir in the organisation. Even though the other members were still sceptical and wary of them, whenever the two teenagers came to spar everyone would gather and watch. It wasn't hard to pick them out, even in a group of masked ANBU, because of their attitudes and individual stances which set them apart from the rest.

"I know all of your moves." Sasuke commented as they fought, parrying her punches as she attempted to grab the small bell hanging from his mask. She had one as well, in the same place, and they had found that having an actual goal made for better training since they knew each other's fighting styles so well. They had to strategize in the heat of battle while protecting their own bells.

"That's what you think." She shot back at him, sending concentrated chakra to her feet as she launched into a close range cartwheel. As her foot grazed the edge of his mask it cut the string attached to the bell. The small bell went flying and she caught it as she came out of her cartwheel. She smirked at him from behind her mask, ringing the bell in her hand. A hand clapped her on the back and she looked around, surprised. A masked figure was standing beside her.

"Good work." It was Yamato. "The hokage wants to see you two now." Yumi looked over at Sasuke who merely shrugged. She rolled her eyes, making the ram hand sign and shunshin-ing to the hallway outside the hokage's office. Sasuke appeared beside her barely half a second later and she knocked lightly on the door, tilting her head to one side when she heard a sudden silence.

"Come in." Shrugging it off the two teenage ANBU stepped into the hokage's office, Yumi giving a confused glance to the rest of the people already there.

"Tsunade-sama?" She questioned calmly, frowning when she heard a bell sound before remembering that she still had a bell dangling from her mask. She hastily removed it and gave it to Sasuke since she had taken his. He pocketed it without a word, staring out the window behind where Tsunade was sitting.

"I'm glad you two are here. I want you to go with Asuma's team here to go after two members of the Akatsuki." Yumi could see Sasuke suddenly deciding to take an interest in the meeting, but he still remained silent.

"Which members?" She asked for him.

"Well they are headed for a collection office as far as we can tell. Does that help?" Yumi nodded to herself, crossing her arms.

"Hidan and Kakuzu. Kakuzu's the only one who would bother to go out of his way to get bounty money."

"Alright then. You will leave first thing tomorrow morning. Until then I want you to discuss everything you know about these two in order to put together an effective strategy for when you find them." Tsunade stared them down, paying extra attention to the ANBU who she had yet to learn to read. Their individual personalities and characteristics were warped and it would take her some time to be able to read them.

"Excuse my asking but, what makes you think they know any more about the targets than you do?" Ino asked, not having realised who the two ANBU were yet.

"Because we do." Yumi stated, bored, as she pulled her mask off. Sasuke followed suit, extracting a gasp of surprise from Ino. Shikamaru watched them from where he was standing with calculating eyes, not saying anything.

"You six, go and strategize," The group took that as a dismissal and left the office, stopping when they got down to the street.

"So you have information helpful to the mission?" Asuma confirmed, facing Yumi. She nodded, mask hanging uselessly from her hand.

"I do, but it is sensitive information, we can't just discuss it in the middle of the street."

"Where do you suggest we go then?" She was silent, a thoughtful look on her face as she ran through a list in her mind.

"I know where the most secure place would be, but you lot wouldn't be allowed inside. The only other place I would trust is my place." She had several layers of sound cancelling jutsu cast around the perimeter of her apartment that she could activate at will.

"Okay, we'll talk there then." Asuma said, lighting a cigarette. Yumi twitched in irritation at the sight but chose to ignore it for the time being. Turning in the direction of the training grounds she set off towards her apartment, Sasuke walking beside her while Asuma's team trailed behind, not knowing where she lived.

* * *

><p>When they reached her apartment building she stopped, turning and sending Asuma a meaningful look.<p>

"What?" He asked, noting her annoyed gaze.

"You can't smoke in my apartment." She informed him. It wasn't a rule the landlord had, it was a personal thing. She just didn't want her stuff to smell like cigarette smoke.

"Fair enough." He threw his cigarette to the ground, stamping it out with his foot. Satisfied Yumi led them upstairs, unlocking the door and letting them into her apartment. She instructed them to grab a seat in the lounge area, giving them permission to bring in seats from the kitchen if need be, before heading into her room. She threw her mask on the bed and set the bell down on her bedside table. Sasuke also decided to ditch his mask in her room, a sign that he probably wanted to talk once Asuma's team was gone.

With that done they both walked through to the lounge and found places to sit. Sasuke sat in the armchair, the last remaining free seat, and Yumi sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him, leaning back against his legs since she felt lazy. Ino sent her a death glare which she skilfully ignored.

"Well then, first things first. Hidan and Kakuzu are known as the Zombie Duo. Can anyone guess why?" She asked, starting the discussion. Everyone was quiet as they mulled it over.

"Aren't zombies like, undead or something?" Ino offered hesitantly. Yumi nodded.

"That's correct, in a way. They are called the Zombie Duo because they are both 'immortal'." She made air quotes around the word immortal.

"That's ridiculous! No-one's immortal." Choji pointed out, not believing it.

"That's also right Choji. Hidan is immortal due to his religion, and Kakuzu has multiple hearts. That is how their immortality works." Sasuke, Shikamaru and Asuma listened intently with blank expressions, but Ino and Choji were still doubtful.

"More than one heart? That's creepy." Ino muttered.

"Just listen okay? If you can destroy all of his hearts he will die, just like any other person. Hidan is a bit different though. My theory-, well my father's theory is, that if Hidan were to be prevented from performing his sacrifices as he religion dictates then he would lose his immortality. Unfortunately neither of us ever managed to come up with a length of time that would be required for that to happen, so the best bet in his case it to incapacitate him and capture him." She explained emotionlessly, digging up the information that her father had told her several years ago. He had probably meant for her to attack the Akatsuki using the knowledge, although she wasn't sure what he could have wanted from his old group.

"Well that's immortality. What else do you know?" Shikamaru asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Hidan is a Jashinist. It is an extremely violent religion, perfectly suited to a criminal such as himself. There are many different rituals. One is a strange ritual in which, by drawing a diagram in blood, if he ingests someone else's blood he can then inflict wounds to the owner of the blood by hurting himself while standing on the diagram."

"That sounds like a tricky technique. This is going to be troublesome." She glanced at Shikamaru before continuing.

"Unfortunately as far as I know there's no real way around it, so your best bet is to avoid getting wounded as much as you can. Don't give him the opportunity to use that technique."

"That's going to be easier said than done." Ino stated, clearing in a state of disbelief.

"That's really all I know about Hidan." She admitted finally, slumping against Sasuke's legs and flipping a kunai around between her fingers.

"Well then how do you propose we beat him?" Asuma asked from his seat on the couch. Yumi really didn't know why she had so much furniture when it was just her.

"Chop off his head." She said calmly. Ino stared at her like she was mental.

"Are you crazy?"

"No. He'll stay alive if we chop off his head, but his body will be useless. Once that happened however we'll have to keep Kakuzu away from him, because Kakuzu can reattach his head to his body and we don't want that."

"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder." The blonde mumbled, shaking her head.

"If we find them at the right time then Kakuzu will be inside dealing with the bounty while Hidan lounges around. In that case we can start by dealing with Hidan while some of the team sets up a sort of ambush for when Kakuzu comes back."

"You said he had multiple hearts. Do you know how many he has?" Yumi shook her head, leaning forward and pocketing the kunai.

"I don't know, and that's a problem. It's an unknown which we will have to factor into the plans." Asuma nodded in agreement, impressed with the amount of intel she had but not sure how she came to possess it all.

"Is there anything else?"

"Strings… I think there was something to do with string…" She turned and looked up at Sasuke pleadingly. He was silent, eyes unchanging, before a flicker of recognition passed over them.

"Oh yeah, I remember him mentioning that. He has some weird skill with strings that come from his body…" He trailed off and shared a confused look with Yumi.

"Yeah, neither of us really understood that part. My father seemed like he knew more about it, but we just weren't getting it so he gave up and sent us back to training…"

"Okay, Shikamaru, let's start with strategizing." Asuma ordered.

* * *

><p>The makeshift team spent nearly three hours in Yumi's lounge talking strategy and trying to make sense of how Hidan's immortality worked. When they finally decided to call it a night Ino was disappointed when Sasuke made no move to leave. No-one else took any notice of it, since Choji and Shikamaru knew they were close while Ino knew nothing. She didn't really understand.<p>

"This mission feels like a waste of time." Sasuke said once they were gone and Yumi was mucking around in the kitchen making food.

"Why? Because it's them and not Itachi?" She asked as she cooked.

"Yeah."

"Well think of it this way. If you can kill an immortal then you'll have no trouble dealing with Itachi." They both knew that wasn't technically true, since neither of them knew how much stronger he had become since Orochimaru's intel. Silence filled the apartment as they both pondered the Itachi issue. When she was finished cooking she handed Sasuke a plate before sitting cross-legged on the couch with a plate of her own.

"Do you think this Hidan person will be able to help us find Itachi?" He asked between mouthfuls.

"Well, if we take both his head and his body back to the village then we might be able to bribe him. You know, give us information and we'll put your head back on your body." She grinned. Just because she was living here now didn't mean that she had to negotiate using village approved methods. She was after all the daughter of a high ranking criminal and was a criminal herself. Criminals bargained for self-preservation and made sure the deals were good for them personally, not so much caring about other people in the vicinity.

"Will he know anything though? Changing missions and all that. By the time we get him to talk his information will be useless." Yumi glared at him, finishing her food before talking again.

"Why are you being so negative about it all? If you're going to be like that then we'll make him tell us where the base is instead! Then we can attack, although it'll be a do or die sort of thing, a complete suicide mission. An unsanctioned one too, since Tsunade would never allow it." He put his empty plate on the ground.

"That sounds like a plan I could go with." She rolled her eyes, getting up and bringing both plates back through to the kitchen.

"A suicide mission… The base would be in shambles if we did that…" She muttered to herself. Sasuke went through to her room and collected his mask. "Leaving? Damn, I guess I can't force you into doing the dishes for me then." He smirked at her as she leaned against the sink.

"Nope. See you at sunrise." She nodded, turning to start the dishes as he left. Choji had demolished most of the instantly edible food in her kitchen, so she knew she would have to restock once they came back from the mission. As she ran the water into the sink she heard voices from the street. Familiar voices. So she walked over and looked out the window while the sink was filling up.

"Hey Sasuke, that's not where you live. What were you doing up there?" Naruto asked curiously. Upon hearing that she immediately ran back into the kitchen.

She didn't go near the windows of her apartment again that day.

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><p><strong>AN: So, have you figured out who I'm not going to let die yet? If you haven't, they were in this chapter, but you'll see soon enough anyway.**

**Thanks for the reviews you guys: my faithful reviewer Invincible Shadow and newest reviewer theblackdragonnn (it wouldn't let me have it with the dots in, sorry) , and of course Z.C.A**


	24. Crashing the Party

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, blah blah blah…**

**Warning: This chapter contains violence and bad language (mostly courtesy of a particular Akatsuki member)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 24: Crashing the Party<strong>

Yumi was the first one at the designated meeting place. She had been feeling pretty antsy and had ended up waking up early with no chance of getting back to sleep. The blonde hair dye had now faded almost completely, so her hair was now black with some brownish shades and was tied up in a high ponytail. She had opted for a slightly different outfit this time, wearing a black and red tank top underneath her jounin vest. This left her curse mark uncovered and highly visible to anyone who bothered to look, but she didn't care since she would most likely be forced to use it anyway during the mission. With her arms hanging at her sides she was leaning against a fence, looking towards the horizon and waiting for the sun to show itself.

* * *

><p>It was another half hour before the rest of the team showed themselves, and when she was asked how long she had been waiting for she lied, saying that she had only just got there. Sasuke knew that she was lying, since she had assumed the stance she always used when she was impatient or annoyed. In fact it was normally both, since when she was impatient she got annoyed and when she was annoyed she tended to get impatient. He kept silent though, figuring that she had just been thinking a lot and hadn't slept.<p>

"So are we all clear on the plan?" Asuma asked when they were gathered. There was a scattering of affirmative noises and some nodding heads. "Alright, let's go then." Turning as one the six of them headed off, following Asuma in the direction of the collection office that Tsunade had specified in the mission outline.

* * *

><p>They travelled mostly in silence for an entire day, stopping once night had well and truly fallen. It was then that they set up camp for the night. Asuma was certain that they weren't too far away now, so it was important that they were well-rested for tomorrow. Once they had eaten Yumi isolated herself from the rest of the team. Reaching out with her mind she found a bird and sent it on ahead so that she could get a look at the area surrounding the collection office.<p>

"What are you doing all the way over here?" A female voice questioned curiously from her left. Yumi flinched, not having noticed her approach since she had been preoccupied.

"Sitting, what does it look like?" Ino frowned before sitting down next to the younger girl. Yumi heard the movement and sighed, releasing the bird before turning to stare questioningly at the blonde who, oddly enough, reminded her of Deidara.

"What?" The blonde asked, noticing the look she was being sent. Yumi shook her head.

"Nothing." She lay down on the ground, staring up at the minimal sky visible through the trees. Ino shrugged it off and started talking about random, trivial things while Yumi listened. Occasionally the younger teen would say something, but for the most part she just let Ino talk. The girl obviously wasn't used to having another girl to talk to while on missions.

* * *

><p>They were up and moving again before the sun was properly up in the sky, reaching the collection office halfway through the morning since they had been focusing more on stealth than just speed the closer they got. Yumi made a wood clone and had it merge with one of the trees closest to the office to keep watch. The team then retreated to a safe distance to wait. If they stayed too close then their chakra signatures would be easily noticeable and the Akatsuki members would be on high alert.<p>

Another hour had passed before the two they were waiting for came into view of the clone. Yumi watched through the eyes of her clone as Kakuzu went inside. The silver haired jashinist seemed to hesitate and she was afraid that he was actually going to go inside, but she breathed a sigh of relief when he sat down on the steps instead. The team moved closer until they could clearly see him. Yumi positioned herself so that she was safely hidden before bringing her clone back to re-join them. She completely suppressed her presence, effectively erasing her existence for the time being.

Asuma whispered to them and they split off into two groups.

Ino, Sasuke and Choji leapt from the trees and landed noiselessly on the roof of the collection office, keeping out of sight of Hidan and positioning themselves to watch and wait for Kakuzu.

Asuma and clone Yumi walked straight up to Hidan, Shikamaru close behind them. The silver haired man looked up, watching as they approached with a slight smirk on his face.

"What do you fuckers want?" He asked, standing up to face them. He was taller than Shikamaru and Yumi, while he was about the same height as Asuma. The dark haired girl placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side, scrutinising the religious man with emotionless blue eyes.

"Immortality is a curse." She stated simply before walking out into the middle of the wide dirt road. Shikamaru watched, confused by her actions. That hadn't been a part of the plan.

"What the fuck did you say bitch?" Hidan yelled angrily, chasing after her.

"Immortality is a curse, so Jashin-sama actually hates you." She taunted, eyeing the necklace he wore which proudly displayed the symbol of his religion. He swung a fist at her and she dodged, landing her foot in his gut. A surprised grunt escaped from his lips as he stared at her. While he was distracted Asuma snuck up behind him and lashed out with his chakra knives. Unfortunately Hidan dodged at the last second, leaving Yumi to dodge out of the way of the attack as Asuma righted himself.

"You've got guts bitch, but no-one fucking badmouths Jashin-sama." She shrugged, launching into a flurry of hand to hand taijutsu as she tried to wear him down without drawing blood. Glancing over her shoulder she motioned to Shikamaru and he managed to use his shadow possession jutsu to freeze Hidan's movements. In the end he had to freeze Yumi's clone as well since they were too close together for him to properly aim, not to mention he was using her shadow to extend his reach.

Hidan let out a long string of obscene curses as he struggled. Shikamaru could only hold him for so long, and as he did a foot connected with Hidan's back. When the jutsu wore off he spun to see the real Yumi standing next to Asuma with his scythe resting against her shoulder.

"This is a pretty nifty weapon; I think I might just keep it." She informed him, easily holding it with one hand and smirking at him.

"Dammit bitch this isn't funny, give it back." He yelled at her, charging. Asuma glanced at her and quickly moved out of the way. She released the curse mark, using the extra chakra to speed up her movements as her skin turned a sickly grey. Hidan noticed the change but kept running, not missing a beat when he heard the footsteps of his partner leaving the building. Gripping the scythe in both hands Yumi swung it towards him, aiming straight as she jumped into the air, propelling herself towards him.

"Hidan what the hell do you think you're doing?" An irritated voice asked as the scythe made contact with the jashinist's neck. It was a clean cut, with Yumi using all of her strength to ensure that fact. His body hit the ground with a dull thud while she landed lightly on her feet, panting slightly from the exertion, with the scythe resting against her shoulder once more as blood dripped from the blades.

"Fuck, now would be a good time to step in and help Kakuzu!" The head yelled, cursing as Yumi's clone picked it up, retreating to the edge of the battlefield. Sasuke, Ino and Choji had already engaged Kakuzu, and the fight was moving out into the centre with complete disregard for Hidan's abandoned body. Rolling her eyes she grabbed his cloak in one hand and dragged him over to where her clone was standing, charging it with guarding the body as well as the head. She was about to join in the second fight when a voice filled the air.

"Sasuke…" The voice hissed. "So this is where you ran off to… How disappointing." Yumi spun to face the two figures which had materialised out of nowhere at the edge of the battlefield. They were instantly recognisable and a feral growl slipped through her lips as she faced them, gripping the scythe in both hands.

"And you, my traitorous daughter. I didn't think you had it in you, I must say I was quite surprised to learn that you had abandoned me." The fighting appeared to cease and now everyone was watching the pale man before them.

"Father, you bastard, what are you doing here? You told the Leaf ninja to destroy the akatsuki for you, so why are you interrupting us?" She shouted at him, ignoring the rest of the people who were present to bear witness to her rage.

"Orochimaru's daughter huh?" Kakuzu mumbled to himself while the others were distracted. "It may pay to inform Pein of this…"

"Lady Yumi, your standards have slipped." Kabuto stated as he walked towards her, quickly closing the distance between them. She tensed, tightening her grip on her newly acquired weapon.

"Screw you Kabuto." She spat at him as he stopped just a metre away. Everyone was watching in silence, even Hidan had shut up for the time being. Without even taking the time to process what she was about to do she charged forward, lashing out. Kabuto hadn't been expecting her to attack so he couldn't dodge it in time. Hidan's scythe left a deep gash running from his right shoulder to his left hip, which he quickly began to heal with his medical ninjutsu.

"What are you doing?" Ino screamed at her, completely disregarding Kakuzu's existence.

"That was for my mother!" Yumi told him, ignoring the blonde as she took another swipe. She landed a blow on his left shoulder but it didn't go as deep or as far as the first attack.

"That was for Touma." She charged at him again, swinging horizontally. The scythe embedded itself in his side and he cried out, still frantically trying to heal his other wounds.

"That's for Akihiko and the rest." Frowning she tried to pull the scythe back but it wouldn't budge.

"Hidan, your scythe is fucking stuck!" She yelled angrily, turning to face the head of the jashinist. He blinked once before smirking, seeing the anger and bloodlust clouding her eyes and her judgement.

"Well bitch, you sure have a mouth on you when you're angry." He commented, watching her scowl at him. "Just fucking drop the scythe." She frowned at him but did as he suggested. Kabuto grunted in pain and pulled it from his side before vanishing along with Orochimaru in a cloud of smoke. The ground next to the scythe was covered in blood.

"Guys, he's gone." Choji warned, scanning the area.

"Damn, we let one of them get away." Asuma muttered, pulling out a cigarette and wandering over to Hidan and the wood clone.

"Get back here Kabuto, you son of a bitch!" Yumi screamed angrily, visibly shaking. All she knew is that she wanted him to pay for the pain he had needlessly inflicted on her. She had carried out assassination missions before, death was nothing new to her, but she had never actually wanted to kill someone as badly as she wanted to kill Kabuto.

"She's fucking crazy." Hidan muttered to himself thoughtfully as she stared into space. While the others debated the possibility of chasing after the escaped akatsuki member Yumi sank to her knees, utterly defeated. Tears ran silently down her face, mixing with the blood splattered across her face from her vicious attacks with the scythe, the scythe that wasn't hers, the scythe that was now lying abandoned on the ground, covered in blood.

She was still angry, furious even, and rightfully so, but she couldn't stop the tears from coming. Still, she couldn't tell if they were tears of sadness or anger or frustration.

* * *

><p>Ino watched in amazement as Sasuke climbed to his feet, walking over to where Yumi was sitting, staring down at the ground. When he put a hand on the girl's shoulder she looked up at him and Ino paled when she saw her face. Even she could see the bloodlust in Yumi's eyes, and the fact that she was covered in blood wasn't helping things at all. She stifled a shudder and pulled her attention back to the conversation she was having with Choji and Shikamaru.<p>

* * *

><p>"I think Jashin-sama would like you, have you ever thought of converting?" Hidan asked when Yumi got back to her feet and walked over to him.<p>

"Wow, a whole sentence without swearing." She muttered in fake astonishment, scrubbing at her face with the back of her hand.

"Time to head back to the village. There's no point in trying to go after the other one when we can still take him back for interrogation." Asuma pointed out, motioning at Hidan as he spoke. They all nodded in agreement, and without Hidan even having to demand it Yumi went and collected his scythe, planning to take it back to the village with them. Dismissing her clone she took possession of Hidan's head while Sasuke took his body.

"How about you tell me about this almighty Jashin then?" Yumi feigned curiosity, and with that the silver haired man launched into a lengthy rant which lasted until they stopped for the night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I would have updated sooner, but over the last few days I've been reading more than writing so…**

**Unknown voice: Ash-chan, when will Tobi make an appearance?  
>Me: *sighs* Never.<br>Tobi: What? Never? Does Ash-chan not like Tobi?  
>Me: No, I don't. Now get out of my room.<br>Tobi: *runs away*  
>Me: *rolls eyes* I was only joking!<br>Tobi: So Tobi gets to make an appearance?  
>Me: No.<strong>


	25. Start the Interrogation

**Warning: More foul language due to the obvious factor *cough* Hidan *cough***

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><p><strong>Chapter 25: Start the Interrogation<strong>

"Kakuzu, where is Hidan?" The holographic image of the akatsuki leader asked as Kakuzu finally made it to the meeting, his own holographic projection flickering into existence.

"Otherwise engaged." He muttered, and if they didn't know their leader better they could have sworn he had sighed in irritation.

"Explain what happened." Pein instructed, hoping that he wouldn't have to find a replacement for the jashinist.

"A group of shinobi from the Leaf attacked and caught him off guard. I could have saved him but there was an… interesting… disruption that gave me the perfect chance to escape to come here." He didn't care about Hidan, he had been protecting the money he had just gained.

"Disruption?" Pein questioned, starting to get interested, although he would never show it.

"Orochimaru. He was talking to them, two of them specifically. Sasuke and a girl whose name I don't know, apparently his daughter." Deidara stiffened, trying to keep his expression composed. He was surprised when Itachi suddenly took an interest in the conversation.

"Sasuke was with the Leaf shinobi?" He asked, managing to keep his usual expressionless face.

"Yes."

"Interesting. We shall talk more about this another time. For now we need to get on with the extraction." Pein pointed out, effectively killing the conversation. They all made the appropriate hand sign for the extraction and began concentrating their chakra, but Deidara and Itachi were both distracted by their thoughts.

* * *

><p>-With the Leaf ninja-<p>

* * *

><p>"For a head you talk far too much." Yumi complained as she sat up in a tree overlooking their temporary camp. When they made it back to the village Hidan was going to be handed over to Ibiki and the rest, but before that happened she was going to try and get some information out of him. If she at least talked to him for a while she might be able to find something she could use for bargaining if she could get in to see him during the interrogation.<p>

"I'm allowed to fucking complain, you have no idea how uncomfortable it is to have your head separated from your fucking body!" He shot back at her. The teen sighed, securely grabbing a fist full of his hair before holding his head away from her so that it was hanging over an expanse of air. Sure she wasn't actually going to drop him, okay scratch that, if he annoyed her she probably would, the only problem being that if she dropped him he might actually die…

"Honestly I'm not surprised that Konan is the only woman in the Akatsuki." She commented, changing the subject as she brought his head back over the branch and set it down. "No girl in their right mind would want to be subjected to your foul mouth every second of the day, not even if they were an S-ranked criminal."

"Wow, you broke my fucking heart." He muttered sarcastically. "Hold on, how did you know about Konan?" Yumi blinked, he hadn't sworn so he must have been genuinely interested. Still, she was unsure of how much she really wanted to tell him since she was secretly planning his release – as long as it benefited her in a substantial way of course. There were some things she didn't mind Pein hearing and others she would rather keep away from prying ears.

"My father told me." Hell, she had already told Deidara about her family issues, and whether he had informed the leader of their meeting or not Kakuzu had heard enough to fill in some blanks.

"That fucking creepy pale snake-like guy right?" The man pressed, watching as she shifted in a show of discomfort.

"Wow, you picked up on that huh?" She shot back at him just as sarcastically as his other remark. "I take it your buddy Kakuzu high-tailed it out of there because of a meeting?" His head twitched awkwardly, and she briefly wondered if he was trying to nod.

"None of your fucking business." Apparently not.

"Fine. Do you know what mission Itachi's been assigned to?" She asked, trying a different line of questioning.

"Itachi? Why the fuck do you care about him?" He stared for a minute, face twisted in a strange expression, almost thoughtful, one that looked absurd in his face considering his personality. "Actually, if I think about it one of those bastards down there looks sort of like Itachi." Yumi couldn't help laughing at that statement, causing the jashinist to glare in her direction.

"So you've actually got a brain in there huh?" She asked as she calmed down, ignoring the death glare she was receiving. "That's because they're brothers."

"WHAT? THEY'RE BROTHERS? FUCK, THA-" Hidan's obnoxiously loud voice was promptly cut off by a hand clamping over his mouth, but he still insisted on finishing his sentence, even if no-one could hear it. It was Yumi's turn to glare, although it was interrupted by Shikamaru landing on the branch in front of her.

"He's going to give away our location if he keeps yelling like that." He pointed out, with a muttered 'troublesome' under his breath. "If he keeps it up we'll have to gag him or something." She pouted at being reprimanded but nodded anyway, understanding the seriousness of their situation. If the Akatsuki weren't otherwise engaged then they would already be on them to get Hidan back. Well, that was only half likely, because Pein might find it easier to just get a replacement for him.

"Sorry Shikamaru." He gave them one last look before jumping back down to return to where everyone else was either sleeping or staring at the fire.

"Why are you so fucking submissive now? You were crazy earlier. Hell no-one's ever dared to steal my scythe before." Yumi sighed, beginning to get annoyed by his questions and feeling fatigue settle in. It was almost like she had super paranoia when on missions, she just didn't sleep enough. When she was travelling with Kabuto she- no, it was better not to think about him, it would only serve to piss her off. Hidan noticed the emotions flicker across her face but ignored them, not caring about her mental stability.

"If I acted like a psycho bitch 24/7 then I think I'd be in the bingo books instead of on missions like this." She replied before grabbing his head and jumping down, landing lightly on the ground and handing him over to Shikamaru so that she could at least attempt to get some sleep.

* * *

><p>-Dawn-<p>

* * *

><p>Everyone watched as Yumi slept sprawled out on the ground next to the almost non-existent remnants of the fire. It would appear that she talked in her sleep and they had spent the last hour learning about her life from the things she mumbled. What they heard even surprised Sasuke, the one who knew her best.<p>

One would have thought she was having a nightmare from the things she was saying, but she hadn't screamed or thrashed around, merely spoke and rolled over once or twice. To Shikamaru at least it seemed to signify a memory as opposed to a dream, but what they heard didn't exactly sound pleasant. The black haired teen kept whispering things about needles and the lab, along with saying 'father' and 'stupid-glasses' quite a few times she also mumbled about snakes.

They were planning on leaving soon so they were debating on who should wake her up when she finally did what they had been expecting and screamed. Ino visibly paled at the noise, it sounded so full of pain and terror yet none of them knew what to do. The problem fixed itself when she sat up, rubbing her eyes with one hand before looking at the bewildered expressions on their faces.

"What's up?" She asked them sleepily. That was another thing about her. While she sleep talked constantly she had never remembered a single dream in her life.

"We're leaving now." Sasuke told her bluntly, giving the rest of them looks to stay quiet about it while she wasn't paying attention.

Yumi took possession of Hidan's head again, not bothering to make conversation this time. The immortal had also heard her sleep talking and had seriously considered bugging her about it, but the fact that she was still looking after his scythe made him keep his mouth shut. He did however, complain loudly about not being able to do his rituals without his body.

* * *

><p>-End of the day: Leaf Village-<p>

* * *

><p>When the tired group walked back into the village in the early hours of the evening Asuma took possession of Hidan and escorted him to wherever he was going to be interrogated and probably tortured. Ino said her goodbyes and headed off home, Choji and Shikamaru did the same, while Yumi wandered off to go and buy something to eat since she was, for lack of a better word, absolutely ravenous.<p>

Sasuke, although worried about how Yumi had been dealing since Kabuto and Orochimaru had showed up, decided against joining her and instead went back to the place he was sharing with Naruto (he still hadn't managed to get his own place).

Yumi walked into Ichiraku's and sat down next to the wall, only vaguely surprised that Naruto wasn't there pigging out. She ordered a random bowl of ramen and leaned against the wall as she waited, mind drifting a bit as she sat there. There had been several instances on her trip back to the village when she had accidentally delved inside Hidan's mind, and the stuff she had seen all had to do with his religion. There was some pretty odd stuff in there, but as soon as she had noticed she was doing it she had immediately yanked herself back to reality. Still, it hadn't stopped it from happening again and again as she let her guard slip since she was concentrating more on travel.

"Here you go." Yumi glanced down at the bowl in front of her and then smiled up at the man, a genuine smile, a smile not many people got to see.

"Thanks." Glad to have been dragged out of her thoughts she ate slowly, savouring the distraction. It was gone all too soon though, and as she stepped out into the street her fatigue caught up again and she would have passed out there and then if a certain dog hadn't decided then was a good time to bark at her.

"You look like a zombie." Kiba informed her teasingly as he came up beside Akamaru. She shot a glare in his direction but it was a half-hearted attempt at best, something which he picked up on.

"Yeah I know. I think I'm going to go and sleep for a week." He laughed at her and she rolled her eyes, glad that at least while they were talking she wasn't falling asleep in the middle of the street. Patting Akamaru she started wandering towards her apartment, hoping they would follow and keep her conscious for a bit longer. Her wish was granted, and though they didn't accompany her all the way they stayed with her long enough to ensure that she at least made it inside before passing out. Admittedly, she only made it to the couch in the living room, but it was better than nothing.

* * *

><p>-Interrogation Room-<p>

* * *

><p>Ibiki, flanked by three masked ANBU, stood before the talking head on the table in the centre of the room.<p>

"You are Hidan of the Akatsuki, correct?" The scarred man asked, trying to get a verbal confirmation from the head of what they already knew. The head with the odd coloured eyes just stared up at them, not saying a thing.

"Fine then. Where is the Akatsuki base? What are Akatsuki's aims?" Hidan laughed harshly, glaring at his interrogators.

"I'm not telling you fuckheads shit." He spat at them, speaking in a way that made one assume that if he still had his body he would be standing with his arms folded across his chest. If Ibiki had been a normal man he would have at least reacted to his foul language, but he was a tough man who wasn't fazed by anything. He motioned and one of the ANBU stepped forward, preparing a jutsu with which to delve into Hidan's mind to search for the answers they wanted.

The man might have been more obsessed with his religion than actually caring about the Akatsuki, but that didn't mean he was stupid and susceptible to mind invasion, especially when he was expecting it.

When the ANBU released the jutsu he was severely shaken up, having been bombarded with images of different sacrifices and rituals from during Hidan's life. If there was one thing the man was willing to share it was his religion.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I wanted to write more in this chapter, but it was getting late and I wanted to watch some more Umineko so… Yeah, I've been reading a lot more than writing this week, otherwise I would have updated earlier.**


	26. Jail Break

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I definitely own Yumi. If any strange person feels a great need to borrow her then make sure you let me know beforehand.**

**Chapter 26: Jail Break**

"You know it's very unbecoming of a ninja to sleep so deeply." A voice commented, amusement playing through in their light, teasing tone. The sleeping figure tensed, reaching for a weapon only to roll and fall off the couch, hitting the ground with a thud.

"Ngh!" She grunted in pain, opting to lie on the floor until she could trust herself to move without fear of injury.

"So you were awake after all?" Yumi opened her eyes and glared up at the hovering figure, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes until she could see them properly.

"Well I'm awake now jerk." Sasuke snickered, holding out a hand to help her up off the floor. Frowning up at him she took it, letting him pull her up. She ran a hand through messy hair and yawned, peering out the window to try and gauge what time it was.

"Actually, how did you even get in here?" She asked curiously, sitting down on the couch and ignoring her rumpled clothes.

"Ino was out in the hallway, she probably wanted to talk, same as me. She didn't try the door, I did. It was unlocked." Yumi mentally cursed herself for forgetting to lock the door after her. Being tired was no excuse, she normally did it automatically the moment she closed the door.

"Wait, where did Ino go then?"

"She left when she saw you were sleeping."

"Well at least one of you had the common sense to leave me be. I would say that you were breaking and entering but…" She shrugged, knowing that it was her own fault. Her stomach growled and she cringed, her eyes showing her embarrassment at being caught unawares and in such a disreputable state.

"You know you don't care." Ignoring him she wandered through to the kitchen, grabbing some instant ramen and pouring boiling water into the bowl to cook.

"Well then what did you want to talk about?" She asked, hearing his footsteps follow her through from the lounge. His expression hardened as he sat down at the table, resting his elbows on the table with his hands clenched in front of him.

"Akatsuki." Yumi sighed, bringing her cooking food over to the table with her as she pulled out a chair and sat across from the dark haired teen.

'_Of course that's what he wants…'_

"Hidan wouldn't give me anything. I'm almost certain that he won't talk to the interrogation squad either." Sasuke's expression darkened further; delving to a state she hadn't seen him in for months.

"It doesn't matter if he doesn't tell _them_ anything, they wouldn't be likely to divulge what he says to people like us anyway." Yumi's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall before settling on him. You could practically see a dark aura coming from him, it was menacing and it sent chills down her spine.

"Okay sure, I see your point. What do you propose we do then?" He raised his eyes to look at her and she flinched involuntarily at the sight of his sharingan.

"We have to get to him, make him talk. Promise him anything and give it to him as long as he tells us _something_ useful." She nodded. It was logical that he would come to that conclusion, she had been thinking the same thing herself. There were issues with that though.

"He'll want his head reattached to his body and his scythe back. We can't get a medical nin to do it because that would raise questions and alert Tsunade to our plans, but do you really think either of us is capable of doing it?" Sasuke's frown deepened and Yumi hesitated before reaching for her food and eating, trying to ignore the distress his behaviour was causing her.

"If he can put up with the pain of two inexperienced people stitching his head on then it should be alright. The real issue is getting his body in there to begin with, not to mention getting a private talk with him."

"You're right. Working that way promises failure and obstacles. It might be easier to collect what we would need for the reattachment and then break him out _before_ we question him. That way we wouldn't need as much time with the head. You'd only have to wait for a momentary interval between the guards or whatever." He nodded once and she hurriedly finished her ramen, throwing the cup in the bin behind her without getting up.

"Interesting plan. They'll instantly suspect us, but we can be long gone by that time. Then, if he doesn't talk we can just bury him somewhere and be done with it, find Itachi by ourselves." Yumi sat back, tilting her head back and staring up at the ceiling.

"I hope he lets me keep his scythe." She muttered, trying to break through the tension hanging heavy in the air.

"You're weird." He laughed, his almost murderous aura disappearing as quickly as it came. She sighed in relief, turning back to his now sharingan-less eyes.

"You got that right. So, when do we put that little plan into action?" He paused, bringing his folded arms to his chest as he leaned back on the chair, tilting it back on two legs.

"Tomorrow evening. I'll get the head, you can deal with the body. Make sure you leave one of your clones to makes it seem like it's still there. I'll borrow some medical stuff from Sakura if I have to."

"Of course, once my part's done I'll meet you in the forest." He nodded, accepting her proposal and climbing to his feet. He was almost to the door when she remembered what else she had wanted to ask him.

"Ah, wait! Just out of curiosity, how long was I asleep for this time?" He shrugged, checking the clock.

"About a day and a half? I think that might have been why Ino was here."

"Oh wow, that long huh? Maybe I do have issues after all…" Sasuke smirked at her before leaving the apartment, shutting the door quietly behind him. She scowled at the back of the door before changing into some fresh clothes and brushing her hair.

* * *

><p>An hour later Yumi was wandering through the forest outside of the Leaf village, trying to clear her head and ponder tactics for breaking Hidan out. She hadn't told anyone she was going out, so if anyone came looking for her they would probably tell her off for leaving without permission, but she didn't care anymore. In a little over 24 hours she was going to become an outlawed shinobi, again, and it would be wise to make sure she never came into this forest again.<p>

Yumi wandered aimlessly into the depths of the forest, only paying enough attention to ensure she knew how to get back. Seeing as she was lost in thought it took her a moment to sense the presence of a person heading towards her.

"Who's there?" She called out, completely abandoning all common sense and alerting them to her whereabouts. There was no response, but the presence continued to get closer until she could see them approaching her through the trees.

'_Deidara? What's he doing all the way out here?'_

He dropped down, landing in front of her, cloak billowing around him. For a minute she just stared at him, shocked by his sudden appearance so close to the Leaf.

"Deidara, what brings you out here?" She questioned after a long silence. He glanced at her briefly but then refused to meet her eyes.

"Uh, well, Leader said that if Hidan isn't back at base within a week then we're getting a replacement for him, un." Yumi tilted her head to one side curiously, watching him.

"Oh, well if that's all you're worried about then you don't have to. I have personally decided that we have no need to keep him."

"I- I never said I was worried, un." He protested weakly, still not looking at her. She smirked, he obviously cared at least a little bit to come all this way.

"Hey, are you any good at sewing? I mean obviously no-one's as good or effective as Kakuzu, but he's not exactly around, you know?" Startled he looked over at her, confusion in his one visible eye.

"Not really, why un?"

"Well we need to put his head back on, duh." She rolled her eyes, dropping down to sit on the ground. He followed her lead, sitting down with his back against a tree.

"We?"

"Yeah, me and my partner in crime, and you I suppose if you wanted to help. You could probably only help by assisting with holding him in place while one of us attempts to stitch his head on." He frowned, contemplating the idea.

"What should I do, un?"

"Stay hidden, stay in the forest." Yumi bit her thumb, slamming her palm on the ground. There was a small cloud of smoke and her most faithful snake was sitting in-between them. "Kara, stay with Deidara." She looked back over at the blond. "If you leave or decide you don't want to help then tell her. If you decide to leave then she'll leave you alone, but otherwise you just have to deal. I can use her to locate you once we get Hidan."

"Alright, un." He wearily eyed the snake. Kara sent Yumi a questioning look but she put a finger to her lips, shaking her head.

"We're carrying it out tomorrow evening. If you try and interfere in the village then we'll all get caught, and I'm sure you don't want that."

"You got that right, un. We don't need another weirdo like Tobi." She nodded in agreement, having no clue whatsoever who this Tobi person was.

"Okay then. Kara, you know what you're doing?"

"Yesss." She hissed, slightly annoyed about being forced to hang around with Deidara for no good reason. Yumi poked her before climbing to her feet.

"I should be getting back. If anything changes I'll let you know." With that she turned and sprinted off into the forest, hurrying back to the village before they could realise she was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>10pm the Next Day<strong>

* * *

><p>"Holding cell, holding cell…" Yumi muttered to herself as she sat on the roof, using a spider to map out the place and find what she was looking for so she wouldn't be running blind. So far though everything was empty. She was about to give up and move on to another building when the spider saw something bulky in the second to last cell.<p>

"Found you." She whispered into the night, mentally retracing the spider's path so that she could get there without distractions and wrong turns.

She slunk carefully through the corridors, keeping to the shadows. She noticed, much to her amusement, that the guard had consumed one to many bottles of sake and was passed out on the floor. Due to his negligence it didn't take much for her to reach the appropriate cell.

Since she hadn't taken the keys from the guard she was forced to use one of her wood style ninjutsu to mess with the lock until it opened. Once she stepping inside she quietly closed the door again just in case there was another guard wandering around out there somewhere. An open door would make anyone suspicious.

"Damn, I'll never get used to seeing headless bodies." She muttered in disgust, kneeling down next to it. Performing a series of hand signs she created a wood clone which she then messed with until it looked like a copy of Hidan's body. It probably wasn't perfect, but it just had to be close enough to fool anyone who walked past in the morning. Moving to the real body she cast a henge on it, making it look like something less likely to draw attention.

Picking up the body she slung it over her shoulder, stepped out of the cell and relocked the door. The easy part was over. Now she had to get out of the village without being seen. She had his scythe strapped across her back underneath her bag while her katana was hanging from her waist. It wasn't the most comfortable arrangement but she would have to deal for a little while.

* * *

><p>"Oi fucker, would you put me down already?" A too loud voice rang through the forest to where Yumi and Deidara were waiting. Sasuke came into view shortly after that, dropping down in front of them and promptly dropping Hidan's head on the ground.<p>

"Hidan if you don't fucking shut up then we'll be caught in no time!" She whispered threateningly. Hidan stared at her for a moment in silence.

"Hey, you're that psycho one! Jeez, I'll never understand women." He mumbled irritably.

"You better hope Konan doesn't hear you say things like that, un."

"Blondy? Okay now I'm confused."

"I'm not going to ask why he's here." Sasuke muttered, voice irritated. "But since he is I'm guessing there's no point trying to get anything about Itachi from this guy." He flicked Hidan in the back of the head causing a stream of curses which everyone ignored.

"Itachi? What do you lot want with Uchiha, un?"

"It's a long story. For now let's just get stitching."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys, I'm going to a miserable little internetless place for a week, so don't expect any contact from yours truly until the 28****th**** at the earliest.**


	27. Discovered

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but if you hadn't realised that before now I fear for your life.**

**Warning: Where there is Hidan there is foul language. Then again, you were warned several chapters ago…**

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><p><strong>Chapter 27: Discovered<strong>

Hidan stretched his arms up over his head. His body was stiff from lack of movement over the past few days and he wasn't particularly happy. Yumi was still possessively watching over his scythe, not letting him have it back. She and Sasuke had taken turns telling Deidara the basic situation, although it was mostly Yumi talking since he didn't want to talk to Akatsuki unless it was absolutely necessary.

"I see your point. If that Uchiha bastard had killed my family I'd be pretty pissed off too, un. You're a strange one though, I don't understand your motives at all." Yumi shrugged, wrapping her arms tighter around the scythe when Hidan glared angrily at her. She poked her tongue out at him, stifling a giggle when he started cursing her again.

"I guess I'm weird then. It wouldn't be the first time anyone had insinuated that fact." Sasuke snorted in amusement, glancing at her with sharingan eyes before refocusing his attention on the immortal who was whining about needing to perform his rituals. She wasn't keen on finding anyone for him to sacrifice.

"Oaky, I do have one question though, un." The blond bomber shifted where he was leaning up against a tree trunk. "Why did you rescue him?" He jabbed a thumb in Hidan's direction, disbelief and confusion warring in his visible eye.

"Honestly? I have no desire to see any of the Akatsuki die unnecessarily. They can do as they wish and I won't interfere, I just plain don't care. As much as I would like to say I have changed I was still raised as a criminal, and I just can't bring myself to care about what other criminals do as long as they don't bother me personally." She glanced up at the sky through the trees, trying to guess what time it was. It was still the middle of the night, but they had to keep an eye on it. If they were still there when the sun rose then it would only be a matter of time before they were caught.

"Definitely weird then, un." Yumi pouted but her eyes were shining with amusement. Letting out a long breath she climbed to her feet, picking the scythe up in her arms. Sasuke copied her movements, getting up but keeping watch on their 'information source' as he had come to dub Hidan.

"Alright, time to move. This forest is too close to the Leaf village to warrant us staying any longer than necessary." Deidara pushed off the tree and Hidan glared daggers at her since she was still refusing to let him have his scythe.

"About fucking time! I need to find some people to sacrifice already!" The other three exchanged frustrated looks. None of them really approved of the finer details of Jashinism.

"Maybe, don't bet on it though. We'll be better off avoiding populated areas, so I don't know how many people you'll encounter for your stupid sacrifice." Hidan ground his teeth together in anger, opening his mouth to start off on a rage filled rant about 'The Almighty Jashin-sama'. Closing her eyes Yumi did some quick hand signs behind her back before stepping up to him and poking the immortal's cheek, transferring the jutsu to him. His rant died in his throat and no matter how many times he opened and closed his mouth no sound came out. She smiled and skipped away before he could lash out at her.

"Let's go then." Sasuke demanded, turning and taking the lead. Yumi motioned for the two Akatsuki members to go before her so that she could take up the rear and keep an eye on them. They complied without complaint, or at least without verbal complaint. Hidan was probably cursing her to the deepest depths of hell for putting him on silent.

* * *

><p>They travelled quickly, aiming to put as much distance between them and the Leaf as possible before sunrise. No-one spoke and they managed to avoid coming across anyone who might have been camping out in the forest on their way back from a mission.<p>

Once the sun rose Deidara took the lead, not having any issues with bringing them to the base. He believed that they would either kill Itachi, get killed themselves, or be brought in to speak with Pein. He was hoping for the first option but, realistically, he was betting on the second one.

* * *

><p>-In the Leaf-<p>

* * *

><p>"Hokage-sama we have a problem." Tsunade glanced up from her desk to look at the ANBU in her office. The sun was just starting to show itself over the village and she had been up most of the night going over paperwork that she had managed to forget about.<p>

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" She took a sip from her cup of green tea as she listened to his explanation.

"The interrogation team went in to attempt to talk with the akatsuki member earlier but he has escaped." Tsunade choked on her tea, coughing and spluttering. When she had recovered she stood up.

"How is that possible? He was just a head!" He flinched behind his mask. It was never pleasant dealing with the hokage when she was angry.

"We're not sure yet, but the most likely option was that he had inside assistance." Tsunade scowled, biting her thumb nail angrily.

"Shizune, keep an ear out for people who can't find friends or teammates. We need to find who did it." She already had a sneaking suspicion, but she would deal with that herself in a selfish attempt to avoid finishing the paperwork still stacked high on her desk. Shizune nodded in understanding, walking out of the office with Ton-Ton the pig in her arms.

* * *

><p>Tsunade sighed irritably. She really hadn't thought her plan through all that much, it had just been spur of the moment. Now she was standing on the street in front of where Naruto and Sasuke lived and she didn't really want to go up there. The hyperactive blond would most likely freak out if he was home – she hoped he wasn't home – but it was something that had to be done. Although it didn't quite make sense Sasuke was the person most likely to help a member of the Akatsuki.<p>

"Sasuke that bastard, he was supposed to wake me up!" Naruto's voice erupted from the apartment, signifying that he was indeed still there. Tsunade was of half a mind to head to Yumi's apartment and come back when Naruto was gone, but that was only putting off the inevitable. Ignoring the looks she was getting from the people who were out in the streets she marched up to the apartment in question and knocked on the door.

"Go away I'm sleeping." Came the less than courteous reply through the wood. Gritting her teeth she shoved the door open, ignoring the protests from the blond.

"Calm down Naruto!"

"… Grandma Tsunade? What are you doing here?" She shut the door behind her, trying her best to ignore the scattered cup ramen wrappers everywhere.

'_How did Sasuke manage to live with him?'_

"Where's Sasuke's room?" Naruto frowned, confusion clouding his expression as he led Tsunade through the apartment.

"This is his room. Why?" She ignored him, stepping inside and doing a quick scan of the room. It was neat and tidy, a sharp comparison to the mess of the rest of the place. There was a headband lying abandoned on the bed, but the rest of the room was devoid of any personal belongings. She scowled, biting her thumb nail in annoyance.

"When was the last time you saw him?" She asked, turning back to him with a blank expression on her face. He blinked, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand as he tried to remember. Tsunade tapped her foot on the floor impatiently as she waited.

"Sometime last night. Did something happen?" She brushed off his question with a wave of her hand, pushing past him and walking out of his apartment. Now she was almost 100% certain that Sasuke had had something to do with it. All she had to do now was check the house of his most likely accomplice, Yumi.

* * *

><p>Her apartment was across town from Naruto's place so she had some time to think. For Sasuke to rescue a member of Akatsuki when the person he wanted to kill the most was a member of the exact same organisation was supposedly unthinkable, but apparently not beyond him. It wasn't a definite thing that they had done it, but there was no one else in the village that she could think of that would be willing to help a criminal organisation.<p>

Stepping into Yumi's apartment it was more or less like Sasuke's room but with more random items scattered around the place. There were plates and cups in the sink, a towel draped over a chair and some books scattered across the table. When Tsunade went into the bedroom the drawers were empty, nothing was left. It was clear that she was gone, she had definitely left the village with no intent of returning.

"I really should have seen this coming. No good could ever come from Orochimaru." Leaving Yumi's apartment she traipsed back to the hokage tower, mulling possibilities over in her mind and dreading the mountain of paper left on her desk awaiting her return.

* * *

><p>-Yumi, Sasuke, Deidara and Hidan-<p>

* * *

><p>Night was starting to fall when Yumi pulled up, stopping on a thick branch and looking out ahead. When Sasuke noticed that she wasn't following anymore he dropped back, giving her a curious look as she sat down on the branch.<p>

"There's someone nearby. Give me a minute to check it out?" He nodded, settling in to keep watch to make sure she didn't fall out of the tree. Yumi gripped the branch with her right hand, resting her left hand against the tree trunk as she reached out with her mind. A small bird was flying overhead and she latched on, gently encouraging it to change its course to check the identities of the people. The bird perched in a tree above where they had made camp and Yumi took control of its eyes, using the light of their fire to try and get a good look at them.

"Shit…" Sasuke glanced down at her and Deidara alighted on their branch, wondering what the hold-up was. Hidan was in the next tree, contemplating whether it was worth trying to take back his weapon while she was distracted.

"What is it?" He asked, sending a warning look to Hidan. She shook her head, flinching when a hand rested hesitantly on her shoulder. She felt their consciousness partially merge with her own and she felt their shock when they saw what she was seeing.

"Wha-"

"_Don't say anything."_ She commanded through their mental link, worried about how Sasuke would react if they said something careless.

"Let go of her." Sasuke warned, glaring at Deidara who now had a spaced out look in his eyes.

"No, it's fine. You know the drill though. Don't touch me and don't let Hidan touch me. I haven't come this far only to end up in the hospital again."

"Why can't they touch you, un?" Deidara asked curiously, trying to steady himself so that he wouldn't fall and take her with him.

"_You're seriously asking me that?"_ She wondered, amused by his sudden thick-headedness.

"_Ah, true. I wouldn't want someone like Hidan in my head, un. That would be rather annoying."_ Yumi mentally rolled her eyes, shifting slightly on the branch in a show of nerves.

"_Enough small talk. What do you think? Are they heading back to base or going out on a new mission?"_ There was silence in her head as she kept watch on what the new Akatsuki group was doing.

"_They're heading back to base, un."_ He replied after some serious thought. Yumi frowned. Admittedly their aim for going to the base with Hidan and Deidara was to find Itachi, but now that he was within their reach she was almost afraid to let Sasuke know about it.

'_Now is no time to be having second thoughts.' _She chided herself, keeping an ear open to their surroundings.

"Hey Blondy, Uchiha, Bitch. I'm going on ahead since you lot are just fucking sitting there for no reason." Yumi cringed, starting to regret releasing the jutsu she had put on him as he yelled. He had no sense of subtlety and she could tell that Itachi and his blue partner Kisame had heard him. Hopefully they had only heard the sound of his voice and not what he had said.

"Hidan! Don't go that… way…" She trailed off when he suddenly appeared in her sight, interrupting the calm campsite that she and Deidara had been keeping an eye on. "Crap. That blockhead is a real pain sometimes."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I go up to my internetless location and what do I do on the first whole day there? I write a new chapter of this story. Maybe I'll finish this before school starts after all.**


	28. Revelations and a shock ending

**Disclaimer (why did I only bother doing this in the last chapters again?): I don't currently, and never will, own Naruto, blah blah blah you know the drill.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 28: Revelations and a Shock Ending<strong>

Yumi released her hold on the bird and shook Deidara off, climbing unsteadily to her feet. Hidan had given away their position AND run straight into the other group, effectively ruining any chance they might have had to bypass them and beat them to the base.

"Yumi what happened?" Sasuke asked, following her as she jumped cautiously from tree to tree, trying to prolong the amount of time before they ran into the others.

"Hidan's an ass, that's all. Same as usual." She let out a fake laugh at the end, startling herself.

"Oi Bitch, come here would you?" Yumi sighed, motioning for Sasuke to stay put. She didn't care if Deidara came with her but she really didn't want a confrontation in the middle of the night.

"Don't call me that!" She called back as she dropped down to the ground and proceeded to where the campsite was situated. Three pairs of eyes stared at her as she emerged in the small clearing, Deidara close behind. Apparently he would rather face the older Uchiha than stay with Sasuke. Yumi made a point of staring fearlessly into Itachi's sharingan. She had built up a fair bit of mental resistance to the sharingan through forcing Sasuke to use it on her and she wasn't scared, not even of the fabled mangekyo sharingan.

"Deidara? When Hidan turned up I never would have guessed that you were with him." Yumi looked away from the red eyes of the Uchiha to look at the blue skinned Kisame Hoshigake. She had never actually seen someone with blue skin before, it was a rather novel experience, like when she had seen Deidara's hand mouths for the first time.

"Shut up, un."

"I also can't believe you gave her your scythe Hidan." Kisame continued, ignoring Deidara's remark. The silver haired man scowled, pointing an accusing finger at her.

"I didn't give it to her, she fucking stole it and she won't give it the fuck back!" Yumi rolled her eyes, holding the scythe with one hand and pointing it at Hidan.

"If you really wanted it back I'm sure you would have it by now." She pointed out. The movement clearly showed the curse mark at the base of her neck, and while Deidara already knew about it and Hidan didn't care Itachi and Kisame examined it with great interest.

"Orochimaru's seal…" Itachi muttered, closing his eyes and reopening them to reveal their normal, sharinganless appearance.

"Okay, so why are you two lugging around one of that snake's pets?" Yumi rested the scythe against her shoulder and turned to stare Kisame in the eye. The headband on her forehead reflected the wavering light from the fire as she glared at him.

"Pet? I take offence to that Hoshigake-san." Kisame blinked in surprise. Apparently he had never been called that before.

"Umm…"

"That's what I thought." She put on a triumphant air which served to further confuse the blue man.

"Someone's coming." Itachi said suddenly. She spun to face the direction he was looking in.

"Shit! I told him to stay put! Deidara you should have stayed with him." She was planning on intercepting him but he was too close, he would be able to hear them anyway. Desperate for some sort of evasion tactic she suddenly ran around behind Itachi and clamped her hands over his eyes. There was silence in the clearing for a moment as they registered what had just happened.

"… What are you doing?" Yumi blanked, making sure to keep a firm grip on him as she tried to think.

"Um… Guess who?" She could tell that he was getting annoyed, but that was only the start of her troubles. As she tried to keep calm the dreaded arrival happened. Sasuke burst out of the trees and landed on the ground in front of everyone.

"Itachi!" He yelled angrily, expression becoming confused when he saw Yumi hanging off his back. She was about to respond to his questioning look when she felt a tug on her consciousness and found herself being tugged away into a swirl of memories as she accidentally delved inside Itachi's mind like she had done so many times while looking after Hidan's severed head.

A myriad of images and scenes flashed before her eyes and she realised that some of them were things she had seen before. Some of it was flashes of the Leaf village, some of it things that she had seen in Sasuke's mind, and then there were things that she had never seen before. She recognised the location, it was somewhere she had been once or twice before.

She managed to grab onto a select few scenes, ones that caught her attention. Letting them play out fully in front of her she heard everything that Itachi remembered from those times and she could feel his emotions pulsing through the memories.

* * *

><p>Someone forcefully broke the physical connection and she went flying back, hitting a tree.<p>

"Ngh…" There was blood in her mouth, she had bitten her tongue pretty hard when she landed.

"Yumi!" She couldn't tell who was calling her name. It could have been any of them, although Kisame and Itachi didn't know her name. Yumi forced her eyes open but stayed sitting on the ground as she waited for her strength to return. When her vision focused properly she ignored everyone and stared straight into Itachi's mangekyo sharingan. She had learnt a lot of things in that short amount of time. Things that were important and things she wished that she hadn't seen.

"Tell him Itachi." Her voice cracked and she coughed, clearing her throat. "Tell him the truth, all of it, and I'll let him kill you."

"What do you mean 'let him kill you'? Did you hit your head?" Sasuke was furious, it was obvious that she was talking about him when she said that and he couldn't imagine what she was getting at pulling something like that all of a sudden.

"Deidara?" She held out her arm and wiggled her fingers in a childish gesture for help. Reluctantly he stepped forward and helped her to her feet. When she was steady and not at risk of immediately falling over she picked up the forgotten scythe and walked unsteadily towards Hidan.

"What do you want now bitch?" She laughed, a laugh that sounded hysterical in her current state. She held the scythe out to him, carefully holding it between two of the blades. He gave her a quizzical look and made a grab at the handle, expecting her to whip it out of his reach again. This time she didn't, when he wrapped his hand around it she let go, letting him have it.

"Sorry." She said sheepishly, stepping back carefully. Hidan continued to look at her with a confused expression.

"Hey midget Uchiha, I think your girlfriend has a serious concussion or something." Sasuke coloured slightly at the word 'girlfriend' but quickly returned to glaring at everyone in turn. It was quite an awkward stand off all things considered. Kisame was the one who had thrown Yumi into the tree, so Sasuke was almost as angry at him as he was at Itachi for merely existing, while Hidan and Deidara were just bystanders.

"Did Jashin-sama tell you it was okay to ridicule an injured girl if you aren't going to sacrifice her?" Yumi questioned the immortal, shocking him further. Without waiting for an answer she marched over to Itachi, wincing as she walked. If the situation had been a bit different she probably would have paid more attention to her possibly broken ribs, but now wasn't the time to whine about petty injuries. It wasn't life threatening, so it could wait.

"What did you see?" The elder Uchiha asked quietly, the tiniest hint of curiosity evident in his voice.

"Everything." He frowned and before she knew it she was in the Tsukuyomi world. It shocked her a little that she was merely standing there, she had half expected to be tied up and tortured.

"If you saw everything then you know why I can't tell him." Yumi forced out an irritated noise through her teeth as she thought about how best to put her point across. Her silence sent Itachi the impression that she had given in, but that wasn't the case.

"You don't want him to hate the village, I get that. Listen, he's been back, he can deal with it. I know he can. If you tell him the right way then he has no reason to hate the village." The frown made its way back onto Itachi's face. He wasn't buying into what she was telling him.

"It won't work. He'll hate the Leaf and he won't be able to achieve his revenge." She pulled at her hair in irritation, glaring at him. Her ribs were still sore so she sat down on the 'ground' of the strange world.

"Revenge revenge revenge. Sometimes I really can't stand you Uchihas. Those memories are my memories too now, so if you don't tell him I can show him. And believe me when I say I will."

"Why do you care so much about Sasuke knowing the truth?" It seemed that Yumi was slowly breaking down his resolve, or perhaps he was just allowing his curious side to roam free since no-one else could hear or see them.

"It's just… Family shouldn't hate each other." She muttered, looking at her feet.

"But even if I tell him he won't believe me." Yumi glanced up at him. For a high class criminal he was incredibly easy to read when he accidentally let his guard down. He sounded distressed, even slightly panicked, although the panic might have something to do with how Sasuke would react when he realised that Itachi had used the sharingan on her.

"You have a point there…" She agreed softly, turning to look around the warped dimension. "Just because someone tells the truth it doesn't guarantee that others will believe it. Everything is in the eye of the beholder. Anything you say will probably be a lie in his mind, just like everything Naruto says is pointless and annoying."

"What should I do then?" She blinked up at him curiously, wondering if she had heard him right.

"I'm not sure. I'll think of something later." The frown appeared on Itachi's face once more before he released her. The real world flashed back into existence around her and she almost fell over, disorientated. Itachi grabbed her wrist just long enough to steady her before letting go and stepping away. She sent him a tiny smile of thanks before trying to find Sasuke.

"What did you do to her?" He shouted angrily, storming forwards. Itachi's now expressionless face turned to him and stared him down.

"Foolish little brother, you know nothing and yet here you are, convinced you can kill me." Yumi groaned, that wasn't exactly what she had been hoping for. Sasuke didn't appreciate his answer either, so he momentarily turned his attention to her instead.

"What did he do?" He asked again, trying to sound calm when he was absolutely furious.

"We just talked." She admitted truthfully. "I'm fine." That part was less truthful, but being injured wasn't what he was worried about. Her head was pounding a bit now, probably a delayed reaction from hitting the tree. Sasuke looked like he was about to charge at Itachi, but Yumi grabbed his hand at the last moment, holding him back. If she just let him kill Itachi then she would never forgive herself, even after all those promises she had made saying that she would help him do just that.

"What?" She ignored him, walking around him and pulling him towards Itachi. Both Uchihas gave her strange looks, it was near impossible to tell what she was thinking. When she was in front of him she stopped and held her hand out to him. Everyone in the clearing was more than a little shocked by her strange actions, but Itachi hesitantly took her hand anyway.

Closing her eyes she delved into Itachi's mind, selecting memories and dragging them out for everyone to see (everyone being Itachi, Sasuke and herself). She knew it was working because she could feel Sasuke's presence in her mind, she could feel his confusion at the things he was being shown.

* * *

><p>When it was over she released them both and fell to her knees, exhausted. Consciously doing something like that apparently took a lot out of a person. They two Uchiha males stared down at her in confusion. She waved a hand weakly showing that she was alright. Whether they believed it or not was another story.<p>

Light footsteps could be heard in the forest near the clearing, and when Hidan raised his voice to question their identity the footsteps changed course, heading straight for them. Yumi got back on her feet with some help from Sasuke and moved to talk quietly with Itachi, not worried about whoever was coming their way. She should have been worried.

* * *

><p>A man stood partially hidden in the canopy of the trees. His black hair helped him hide in the ever growing darkness and he used it to his advantage as he watched his unfaithful daughter in the middle of his old organisation. He had attached a tracking device to her during their last encounter so that he could know her location at any time, but she had mostly stuck to the village hidden in the leaves so he hadn't bothered getting too close. Now however was a different story.<p>

He jumped down into the edge of the clearing and suddenly all eyes were on him. Different emotions were painted across different faces. Sasuke was angry, Yumi fearful, and the rest either confused, surprised or indifferent.

"Oh troublesome child of mine, if you had stayed in the village then I wouldn't have needed to come and get you." He mocked before getting his sword from one of the snakes. Her eyes widened in fright upon seeing the sword and he smirked, making a small show of aiming. Sasuke's anger turned to fear and he shouted for her to move, but she was frozen to the spot. The older Uchiha, Itachi, was standing just beside her, but he was certain that he wouldn't bother interfering.

Swinging his arm back he threw the sword like a spear. It sliced through the air, hurtling straight towards the frightened form of his only child, only to impale itself in a taller, black cloaked figure.

"Shit." He had miscalculated. As chaos erupted in the clearing he took his leave, swearing to come back some other time to do what he had been aiming to do.

* * *

><p>Itachi fell to the ground in front of Yumi, sword protruding from his chest. She opened and closed her mouth several times, but nothing came out. She was in shock, extreme shock.<p>

"Brother!" At the sound of Sasuke's voice she sunk to her knees next to him, looking down into his face.

"Itachi…" She mumbled sadly as she felt Sasuke kneel down beside her.

"You're a… strange person…" He managed, coughing slightly. "Thanks… for helping." He coughed more violently, a small trail of blood coming from his mouth.

"Don't die." She ordered him weakly, knowing that it was pointless. Itachi managed a small smile before his eyes drifted shut for the last time. Yumi wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck and starting crying into his shoulder as silent tears fell down his own face.

The three remaining Akatsuki members present watched the scene with a dark sense of humour. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on them.

The hunters were crying over the death of their prey.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: THE END!**

**I know some of you will be depressed, and it was sort of a weird ending, but if I didn't find some odd way to end it like that then I would never be able to finish the story. I was originally going to keep Itachi alive, but then I would have been tempted to write more chapters and it wouldn't have ended.**

**Anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewed or added this story to their favourites or story alerts, it's good to know that people were reading it and enjoying it.**

**That's all I've really got to say so… See you around.**

**EDIT: 29/1/12: Ok ok ok, since people keep asking I may as well put it here. I AM thinking of making a sequel, but that will take time so you'll have to be patient, alright? I need to think up a storyline first. Suggestions are welcome but it doesn't necessarily mean that I'll use them, just remember that. If I do use an idea I'll try and remember to credit the supplier :)**


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